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Qass 
Book 




^44^ 



LECTURES 



a^ 




OF 

SLAVERY, 



AS EXHIBITED IN THE 

INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY 

IN THE 

UNITED STATES: 

WITH THE 
BY 

WILLIAM A. SMITH, D.D., 

PRESIDENT OF RA.NDOLPn-MACON COLLEGE, AND PROFESSOR OF MORAL AND 
INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHT. 

EDITED BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D. 



STEVENSON AND EVANS. 

1856. 






I 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

WILLIAM A. SMITH, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessea 



I ^ t 'STERKOTYPF.D AND PRINTED BY A. A. STITT, 
SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN. 



Ccnttitts. 



PREFACE Page vii 

LECTURE I. 

INTEODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF AFRICAN SLAVERY IN 
TDE UNITED STATES. 

General subject enunciated — Why this discussion may be regarded aR 
humiliating by Southern people — Other stand-points, however, 
disclose an urgent necessity, at this time, for a thorough investiga- 
tion of the whole subject — The results to which it is the object of 
these lectures to conduct the mind 11 

LECTURE XL 

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OF THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 

If the system be sinful, per se, the sin of it must be found in the 
" principle — Is the principle sinful? — The principle defined — Objec- 
tions to the term "submission" answered — The effects of Mr. Jef- 
ferson's doctrine upon many conscientious persons in the Southern 
States 31 

LECTURE in. 

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

Objections classified — Popular views discussed — "All men are born 
free and equal " — "All men are created equal" — "All men in a state 
of nature are free and equal" — And the particular form in which 
Dr. Wayland expresses the popular idea, viz., "The relation in 
■which men stand to each other is the relation of equality ; not 
equality of condition, but equality of right" — Remarks on Dr. 
Wayland's course — His treatise on Moral Science as a text-book. 60 

(iii) 



IV CONTENTS. 

LECTURE IV. 

THE QUESTION OF EIGHTS DISCUSSED. 

Why it is necessary to define the term rights — The right in itself 
defined to be the good— The doctrine that the will of God is the 
origin of the right considered— The will of God not the origin of 
the right, but an expression of the right which is the good — Natu- 
ral rights and acqmr&i rights, each defined 77 

LECTURE V. 

THE DOCTRINES OF RIGHTS APPLIED TO GOVERNMENT. 

Government, human as well as Divine, is a necessity of man's fallen 
condition — All men concur in this — Man did not originate govern- 
ment: he has only modified the form — The legitimate objects of 
government, and the means which it employs to effect these objects 
— The logical inferences: 1. Although he has the power, he has no 
right to do wrong ; 2. As a fallen being, he is, without a government 
over him, liable to lose the power of self-control — "What are the 
rights of man, 1. In a state of infancy, 2. In a state of maturity, 
and, 3. In a savage or uncivilized state — Civil government is not 
founded on a concession of rights 104 

LECTURE VL 

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OP SLAVERY DISCUSSED ON SCRIPTURE 
GROUNDS, AND MISREPRESENTATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE EXAMINED, 

The true subjective right of self-control defined according to the 
Scriptures — The abstract principle of slavei-y sanctioned by the 
Scriptures — The Roman government — Dr. Wayland's Scripture ar- 
gument examined and refuted — The positions of Dr. Channing and 
Professor Whewell examined and refuted 132 

LECTURE VIL 

THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 

The question stated — The conduct of masters a separate question — 
The institution defined — The position of the abolitionists, and that 
of the Southern people — The jyresimption is in favor of the latter 



CONTENTS. V 

Those who claim freedom for the blacks of this country failed to 
secure it to those on whom they professed to confer it — The doc- 
trine by which they seek to "vindicate the claim set up for them, 
together with the/aci of history assumed to be true, is false... 153 

LECTURE VIII. 

DOMESTIC SLAVERY, AS A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT FOR THE AFRICANS 
IN AMERICA, EXAMINED AND DEFENDED ON THE GROUND OF ITS 
ADAPTATION TO THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE RACE. 

There should be a separate and subordinate government for our Afri- 
can population — Objection answered — Africans are not competent 
to that measure of self-government which entitles a man to political 
sovereignty — They were not prepared for freedom when first brought 
into the country ; hence they were placed under the domestic form 
of government — The humanity of this policy — In the opinion of 
Southern people, they are still unprepared — The fanaticism and 
rashness of some, and the inexcusable wickedness of others, who 
oppose the South 176 

LECTURE IX. 

THE NECESSITY FOR THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY EXEM- 
PLIFIED BY FACTS. 

The attempts made at domestic colonization — The result of the ex- 
periment in the case of our free colored population — The coloniza- 
tion experiment on the coast of Africa — The example of the Canaan- 
itish nations — Summary of the argument on the general point, and 
inferences 192 

LECTURE X. 

EMANCIPATION DOCTRINES DISCUSSED. 

Gradual emancipation the popular plan — It would operate to collect 
the slaves into a few States, cut them off from contact with civiliza- 
tion, and reduce them to barbarism — It would make an opening for 
Northern farmers and their menials to come into those States 
from which they retired — The modifications which the system of 
slavery has undergone within late years — A comparison of the 
menials of the free and of the slave States, and the only plan of 
emancipation admissible — The gospel the only remedy for the evils 
of slavery — Paul's philosophy and practice, 1 Tim. vi. 1-5 .... 210 



VI CONTENTS. 

LECTURE XI. 

TEACHING THE SLAVES TO BEAD AND "WRITE. 

Superiors frequently neglect inferiors — The policy of the South vin- 
dicated by necessity — The results that "would follo"W an attempt to 
establish a system for instructing the blacks in letters, and those 
•which "would follo"w the establishment of such a sj'^stem — The do- 
mestic element of the system of slavery in the Southern States 
affords the means for their improvement adapted to their condition 
and the circumstances of the country — It affords the natural, safe, 
and the effectual means of the intellectual and moral elevation of 
the race — The prospects of the Africans in this country, and their 
final removal to Africa — The country never "will be entirely rid of 
them — The Southern policy "wise and humane 228 

LECTURE XII. 

THE CONSERVATIVE INFLUENCE OF THE AFRICAN POPULATION OF THE 
SOUTH. 

Preliminary remarks — American party — The present and prospective 
condition of our country — The large number of voters in the free-soil 
States "who will be under a foreign influence, political and religious, 
inducing them to discard the Bible and the right of private judg- 
ment — The freedom of the Southern States from this anti-Christian 
and anti-republican influence — The presence of the African race in 
the Southern States secures them this advantage — The unpatriotic 
policy of freesoilism 257 

LECTURE XIIL 

THE DUTY OF MASTERS TO SLAVES. 

" Masters, give unto j'our servants (Sov?,oir, slaves) that -which is just and equal, 
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." — Col. iv. 1. 

The duty of masters and the rights of slaves reciprocal — 1. The duty 
of masters to their slaves considered as "their money:" in regard 
to working, resting, feeding, clothing, housing, and the employment 
of persons over them ; also to the sick and the aged. 2. Their duty 
to their slaves considered as social beings — Punishments and the 
social principle discussed. 3, Their duty to their slaves considered 
as religious beings — Public insti'uction on the Sabbath and at other 
times, and the opportunity of attending — The employment of preach- 
ers, and the religious instruction of children 276 



PREFACE 



The following pages contain the substance of 
Lectures on the subject of Domestic Slavery in 
the United States, which for several years have 
been delivered to the classes in Moral Science in 
Randolph Macon College. 

Since the year 1844, I have been frequently 
called on to discuss this subject on various popular 
occasions in Virginia and North Carolina. My 
classes in college were compelled to deal with the 
subject of domestic slavery. Not only the popular 
ideas in regard to African slavery in this country, 
but the specific treatment of this topic by numer- 
ous text authors in Moral Science, rendered this 
unavoidable. A deep conviction that the minds 
of young men were receiving a wa^ong, and, in 
the present state of the country, a fatal direction. 



Till PREFACE. 

both as regards the principles of the mstitution, 
and the institution itself, induced me to substitute 
the text authorities on the subject by a course of 
lectures. These lectures, therefore, were origin- 
ally drawn up with a view to oral delivery. They 
were modified by the circumstances of their origin. 
In preparing them for the press, however, I was 
led to consider the class of persons for whose use 
they were cliiefly designed, and at the same time 
to adapt them as far as possible to the general 
reader. I was aware of the difficulty of fixing 
definitely on the mind of the student the nature and 
limits of abstract truths, and that this dif&culty 
is, if any thing, gi'eatly increased when we pass 
to those whose reading is not characterized by 
habits of thought, — as would be the case with 
many of those whose interest in the general 
subject of slavery might induce them to read 
these lectures. The task of meeting these diffi- 
culties was encountered with a measure of painful 
distrust. 

My Adews on the subject of slavery, as a prac- 
tical question, will be found very generally to 
accord with the popular ideas of those communities 



PREFACE. IX 

in which the African population chiefly resides. 
But, as a question of Moral Science, I will be 
found to differ, and in some aspects very mate- 
rially, from those who have spoken and written on 
the subject. 

The closing lecture is on the duties of masters 
to slaves. On this point it may also appear that 
my views do not accord with those of some others. 
There are men whose views I judge to be en- 
tirely too loose on the whole subject. But I 
should consider any treatise on the subject of 
slavery as inexcusably defective that did not 
embrace the duties of masters to slaves ; and I 
persuade myself that the number, if any, who 
take a different view of the subject will be found 
to be exceedingly small. 

Whether I have acted w^isely in endeavoring to 
combine in one performance a treatise adapted to 
the habits of the student, and at the same time to 
the habits of the general reader; and w^hether I 
have succeeded to any desirable extent in so diffi- 
cult an undertaking, it is not for me to determine. 
I can only say, that in giving these lectures to the 
public, I have yielded to the earnest desn-e, often 
1* 



X * PREFACE. 

expressed, of a large number of friends whose 
judgment is entitled to my highest respect and 
confidence. In meeting their wishes, I have en- 
deavored to do justice to the subject. I have 
written honestly, and with a sincere desire to do 
good. 

For the many imperfections of this volume, the 
author persuades himself that the assurance that 
it has been written and prepared for the press 
under the pressure of other important and fre- 
quently distracting avocations, will be received 
as some apology. In the humble hope that it 
may, nevertheless, shed some light on the difficul- 
ties of the general subject, and thereby contribute 
to diffuse sounder views on the principles in- 
volved, quiet the irritation of the pubhc mind, 
and give more stability to our pohtical union, and, 
at the same time, impress masters more deeply 
with the importance and obhgations of their provi- 
dential position, it is with diffidence submitted to 
the judgment of the public. 

Randolph Macon College, Va., 
August ISth, 1856. 



LECTURES 



ON THE 



^IjH0so|Ijn anb ^radia of Sladtrg. 



LECTURE I. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF AFRICAN 
SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 

General subject enunciated — Why this discussion may be regarded 
as humiliating by Southern people — Other stand-points, how- 
ever, disclose an urgent necessity, at this time, for a thorough 
investigation of the whole subject — The results to which it is 
the object of these lectures to conduct the mind. 

The great question Avhich arises in discussing 
the slavery of the African population of this 
country — correctly known as " Domestic Slavery" 
— is this : Is the institution of domestic slavery 
sinful ? 

The position I propose to maintain in these 
lectures is^ that slavery, jt?^ se, is right; or that 



12 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the gi'eat abstract principle of slavery is right, 
because it is a fundamental principle of the social 
state ; and that domestic slavery, as an institutioyi, 
is fully justified by the condition and circum- 
stances (essential and relative) of the African race 
in this country, and therefore equally right. 

I confess that it is somewhat humiliating to dis- 
cuss the question enunciated — Is the institution 
of domestic slavery sinful? The affirmative as- 
sumes that an immense community of Southern 
people, of undoubted piety, are, nevertheless, in- 
volved in great moral delinquency on the subject 
of slavery. This is a palpable absurdity in regard 
to a great many. For nothing is more certain 
than this, that if it be sinful, they either know it, 
or are competent to know it, and hence are respon- 
sible. And as no plea of necessity can justify an 
enlightened man in committing know^n sin, it fol- 
lows that all such Southern people are highly 
culpable, which is utterly inconsistent with the 
admission that they are pious. To say, as some 
are accustomed to do, that " slavery is certainly 
wrong in the abstract,'' that is, in plain terms, in 
itself sinful, but that they cannot help themselves, 
appears to me to be wholly unfounded. It 
assumes that a man may be absolutely compelled 
to commit sin. This certainly cannot be true. 
All candid minds wdU readily allow, that so far as 



OP SLAVERY. 13 

Deity has yet explained himself, he has in no 
instance enjoined upon man the observance of any 
principle as his duty, which he may be compelled, 
in the order of Ms providence, to violate. It is 
equally false in fact, for it is not true that we are 
absolutely compelled to be slaveholders. If gov- 
ernment be, as it undoubtedly is, the agent of the 
people, and the people choose, they are certainly 
competent by this agent to free themselves from 
this institution. True, the immense cost of such 
an enterprise would be the least in the catalogue 
of evils resulting from it ; for the total ruin of the 
African race in this country may be put down 
among the rest. But what of all this ? Nothing 
can justify an enlightened and civilized people in 
committing sin. No ; not even the sacrifice of 
life itself. Withal, if the civil society refuse to 
make so costly a sacrifice to avoid sin, there is 
nothing that can compel any individual citizen to 
remain a slaveholder. He can live in the com- 
munity, as some do, without even hiring or own- 
ing a slave ; or he can remove to one of the 
so-called free States. We should give no counte- 
nance, therefore, to any such mere attempts to 
apologize for domestic slavery. The conduct of 
bad men may sometimes find apologists. The 
conduct of good men always admits of defence. 
Hence, with many others, I have often been 



14 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

grieved by the repeated attempts of certain 
pseudo-friends to pass off this flims}'' and ridicu- 
lous apology as an able defence of the South. 

In maintaining the institution of domestic sla- 
very, we are either right or wrong, in a moral 
point of view. We ask no mere apology on the 
score of necessity, and we can certainly claim 
none on the ground of ignorance. Those who 
affirm that we are wrong, directly^ attack our 
morals. In doing this, they arraign the character 
of many thousands, who are among the most civil- 
ized and pious people now living. This fact 
alone is a sufficient refutation of so foul an asper- 
sion ; and in this view, it may be readily admitted 
that any attempt at a more formal refutation is a 
humiliating condescension, to which few Southern 
men can willingly submit. 

But there is another stand-point from which 
this subject is to be viewed, and which reflects it 
in a very different light, and clearly indicates the 
duty of submitting it to the test of the soundest 
principles of philosophy and religion. It is this : 
the ascendency tvhich certain popular errors on the 
subject of African slavery have acquired^ and the 
extent to which they peril the peace of the country^ 
if not the very liberties of the ivhole republic. I 
allude to the fact that there are many in the 
country — and not a few of this number spread 



OF SLAVERY. 15 

through our Southern States — who would not 
intentionally arraign the piety of their fellow-citi- 
zens, but whose minds (it is painfully humiliat- 
ing to know) are in a state of great embarrass- 
ment on this subject; so much so, that they are 
constantly liable to be made the victims of any 
fanatical influences abroad in the land, no less than 
the dupes of that large class of political aspirants 
who, reckless of both truth and morals, would 
secure their elevation at any price. 

Nor need we Avonder at the ascendency of erro- 
neous opinions on the subject of slavery, any mor-" 
than at the results which they threaten. 

At an early period in our history, Thomas Jef- 
ferson denounced domestic slavery as sinful, 'per 
se, and declared that " there was no attribute in 
the Divine mind which could take sides with the 
wdiites in a controversy between the races :" thus 
assuming in this remark, that the providences as 
well as the attributes of the Deity are against the 
slaveholder. Owing to the prominence given by 
our Puritan fathers to the higher institutions of 
learning, together with the fact that the soil and 
the climate of New England w^ere unfavorable to 
agricidtural pursuits, citizens of these States have, 
from an early period in the history of the repub- 
lic, supplied the most of the text-books for the 
schools and colleges of the whole country. This 



1^ PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

grossly offensive error of Mr. Jefferson has been 
more or less diffused through the whole of these 
text-books. It has been among the first of specu- 
lations upon abstract truth presented to the minds 
of the American people. It has been studiously 
inculcated from professors' chairs in colleges and 
universities in the Northern States, while South- 
ern literary institutions have been for the most 
part silent. The pulpits of the South have also 
lent their aid, and in some instances have been 
zealous and active in propagating this error. 

As early as 1780, the Methodists declared, in 
a general convention of preachers, that " slavery 
is contrary to the laws of God, man, and nature, 
and hurtful to society ; contrary to the dictates 
of conscience and pure religion ; doing that which 
we would not that others should do to us and 
ours ; and that we pass our disapprobation upon 
all our friends who keep slaves, and advise their 
freedom." This doctrine was reasserted after the 
organization of the Church in 1784, and, with 
short intervals of time, and unimportant variations 
of phraseology, the essential features of this doc- 
trine have been adhered to until the present time, 
by this most numerous body of professing Christ- 
ians in this country. At an early day, Bishop 
Coke, of the M. E. Church, openly advocated this 
doctrine in the pulpits of the country, until 



OF SLAVERY. IT 

silenced by the force of public opinion ; yet he did 
not cease, while he remained in the country, to 
exert the full amount of his personal influence in 
private and social circles against the institution of 
domestic slavery. His example was followed by 
a large number of his preachers, and many minis- 
ters of other Christian denominations, who imbibed 
the same doctrine and were animated by the same 
spirit of hostihty to the institution ; and who, like 
himself, were only held in abeyance by the same 
force of public opinion. Many politicians, also, 
there were, from time to time, who did not scruple 
to avow Mr. Jefferson's doctrine, and like him 
affect to foresee dreadful calamities overhanging 
the country as a consequence of domestic slavery. 
In view of these facts, it cannot be a matter of 
surprise that abolition opinions and sentiments 
should pervade the non-slaveholding sections of 
the country ; and that at least a private but pain- 
ful impression or suspicion that there must be 
something wrong in the principle of domestic 
slavery, should be found to pervade a portion even 
of the Southern mind. Pteluctant as we may be 
to admit the truth, necessity compels us to do so. 
Let the following facts bear witness. 

No communities on earth are so free from domes- 
tic insurrections, and the disturbing influences 
which come up from the lower orders of society. 



i^ 



18 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

as those of the Southern States of this Union. 
The social condition of England and Ireland, and 
the states of the continent of Europe, are per- 
]3etualiy subject to the disturbing and ruinous 
influence of local, and often widely spread, insur- 
rectionary movements against the social order, 
and even the safety of the governments. Nor are 
the Northern States of this Union any more free 
from these agrarian movements, than may be ac- 
counted for by the relative sparseness of their 
population. Yet a general feeling of security 
pervades all these people, whilst it is notorious 
that there are a great many in Southern commun- 
ities who are in a constant state of feverish ex- 
citement on the subject of domestic insurrections. 
Any announcement of that kind is sufficient to 
convulse a whole community. The trifling affair 
of Nat. Turner (trifling compared w^ith the fre- 
quent disturbances and loss of life common in the 
communities just referred to) painfully agitated 
the whole State of Virginia; and occupied her 
Legislature through a wdiole winter in grave dis- 
cussio'is as to the " best means of freeing the State 
from the incubus of slavery." These results have 
all followed from the causes at wdiich we have 
glanced. 

In this state of things, it is in vain to appeal 
to the fact that Mr. Jefferson, though a profound 



^« 



OF SLAVERY. 19 

statesman, and to some extent a logician, was 
neither a divine nor a metaphysician ; and that no 
people on the globe have shared more largely in 
the blessings of a bountiful Providence than those 
of the Southern States of this Union. In the 
progress of civilization and religion, they have 
advanced more rapidly than any communities in 
the country. Still, Mr. Jefferson's name does not 
lose its enchantment; and having already learned 
to despise the unexampled blessings of Providence, 
many of the Southern people actually believed — 
until railroad communications began to dispel the 
illusion — that their own happy States were really 
falling back in civilization to the darkness of the 
middle ages. Add to all this, the halls of legisla- 
tion continue to echo the opinion that " domestic 
slavery is a great moral, political, and social evil." 
Ifi this connection, the phrase, moral evil, is re- 
stricted to its appropriate meaning, sin. No 
doubt, Messrs. Doddridge, Rives, Clay, Webster, 
and many others — illustrious names ! — who have 
substantially used this language in various con- 
nections, only meant to deprecate the evils of^ 
slavery in strong terms, that they might propiti- 
ate a more favorable consideration of what they 
had to say in its defence. But if we be correct 
in the position already postulated, it is quite time 
our politicians, no less than our ecclesiastics, had 



20 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

learned to chasten their language on this subject: 
The fountains of public thought and feeling have, 
to a great extent, been poisoned : that is, the ab- 
stract opinions and religious sentiments of the 
people have been corrupted and perverted. 

The three great Protestant denominations* of 
the country have been torn asunder. The flags 
of their time-honored unions are traihng in the 
dust; and they have ceased to operate as bonds 
to our political union. A secret suspicion of the 
morality of African slavery in the South, occupies 
the minds of many of our best citizens — citizens 
who are at a vast remove from the fanaticism 
which stigmatizes those who are known as the 
ultra abolitionists of the country. The great 
family of Methodists in the District of Columbia, 
the slave States of Delaware and Maryland, in 
Western Virginia, and a part of Missouri, retain 
their connection with the abolition division of the 
M. E. Church. All along the line of division be- 
tween the M. E. Church, North, and the M. E. 
Church, South, — running through Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Missouri, — the evils resulting from the 

* The Methodists and Baptists, it is well known, divided di- 
rectly upon the subject of slavery; and the Presbyterians medi- 
ately upon a question of constitutional law ; but there is reason 
to believe that the slavery agitation in the Presbyterian Church 
precipitated a division, which otherwise would probably have 
been averted. 



OF SLAVERY. 21 

conflict and strife of opinions on this subject are 
daily multiplying. The experiment of abolition 
fanaticism is progressing ; and the souls as well as 
the bodies of men are in the crucible. It is clear 
that " whilst we have slept, an enemy hath sown 
these tares," in our literature, our politics, and 
our theology. 

Two striking phenomena remain to be noticed 
and accounted for. Amid all the conflict of opinion 
and feeling upon this subject, — wdiich was insepa- 
rable from doctrines so utterly at war with the 
practices of the country — a conflict which at an 
early period found its way into the halls of legis- 
lation, civil and ecclesiastical, and has not ceased 
to the present time to modify the federal politics 
of the country, — the African population has yielded 
only to certain physical and moral laws as to the 
place of its location ; whilst the institution of 
slavery, which embodies the great mass of that 
popidation in the country, has held on the even 
tenor of its way, unchecked in the shghtest de- 
gree by the antagonistic doctrines and sentiments 
w^hich have warred so fiercely against it, and 
which at so many periods have threatened the 
country with a legion of disastrous consequences. 
In the first place, the African population has gra- 
dually receded to those sections of the Union 
which, from their climate and soil, were better 



22 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

adapted to slave labor. Why did not tlie abstract 
opinions and sentiments set forth by Mr. Jefferson 
and the M. E. Church, and which are supposed to 
have given birth to the emancipation laws of the 
Northern States, operate to retain wnthin those 
States the large portion of slave population then 
held, and secure their practical freedom? Why 
did they escape the supposed charity of these 
doctrines, and find their way, not as freemen, but 
as slaves, to a chmate and soil more congenial to 
their nature and destiny ? Are these doctrines 
real abstract truths, as their advocates profess to 
believe them to be ? Then they are fundamental 
— they are vital — they are life-giving, and can 
never fail to impress their own essential character 
upon every system to w^iich they are applied. 
The citizens of the Northern States adopted these 
doctrines. Then it was an affair of conscience. 
Emancipation laws were said to be the result. 
But that these laws, supposed to be founded in 
the belief of certain great abstract truths, which 
secured to the African his civil freedom, should 
operate only to transfer him to a climate and soil 
better suited to his condition as a slave, is a phe- 
nomenon for which the hypothesis does not ac- 
count. And again, the institution itself, of 
domestic slavery, by reason of causes Avhich are 
evidently, though mysteriously, at work, is this 



OF SLAYERT. 23 

day more firmly grounded in the confidence of 
the great mass of the Southern people, and more 
extensively ramified and interlocked with other 
civil institutions of the whole country, than at 
any former period of its history ! How is this ? 
The abstract opinions and sentiments in question, 
pervading our literature, our politics, and our theo- 
logy, have been adopted by so many of our citi- 
zens as to entitle the doctrine to be regarded as a 
kind of national belief — the sentiment a kind of 
national feeling. We are told that all men believe 
slavery to be wrong in principle ; that is, wrong 
in itself! and that all men feel that it is wrong! 
And certain it is, there is more truth than fiction 
in all this ! It is strictly true, as to the citizens 
of the so-called fi'ee States. The same doctrine is 
not without advocates at the South ; whilst many 
more, as we have before stated, who may not be 
said to believe it, are nevertheless often the sub- 
jects of painful misgivings. ThQj fear it may be 
true. The causes to which we have traced this, 
fully account for it ; and we need not fear to state 
the truth. But then again, the question recurs — 
How is this, that the institution itself, a great 
practical truth, should daily, for a long series of 
years, become more and more practical — a fixed 
fact in the country ? Truly, this is a phenome- 
non for which the philosophy of the day will not 



24 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

account. If those who beHeved this doctrine 
were ruthless fanatics — ultra abolitionists in the 
strictest sense — if those who oppose it were really 
" pro-slavery" men, in the bad sense in which cer- 
tain persons understand this phrase, that is, men 
who, on the subject of slavery, wickedly do what 
they know and feel to be wrong : on either hypo- 
thesis we could account for the phenomenon in 
question. But these are not the men with whom 
I deal in these lectures. I lay all such out of the 
account. They are men not to be reasoned with. 
No : the men of whom I speak, both North and 
South, are candid, honest men. I personally 
know many of them at the North. I have met 
them on great battle-fields, where more than blood 
was shed ! I know them to be good men and 
true, and I believe the same of the large class 
they represent. With many of those at the 
South who affiliate with them in opinion as firm 
believers in Jefferson's doctrine, or whose embryo 
opinions excite painful misgivings of mind, I have 
often communed freely, and have equal confidence 
in their integrity and honesty. The whole taken 
together form a very numerous class, and may be 
safely regarded as embodying the national belief 
and feehng on the subject of slavery. And yet 
we find that slavery is a great practical truth, a 
fixed fact in the country. Now, can it be true 



OF SLAVERY. 25 

that this opinion and feeling embodies a great 
abstract truth — a fundamental, vital, immutable 
principle, which never did and never can fail to 
hold practical error in check, because it takes hold 
of the conscience of an honest people — and whose 
tendency, therefore, is always to an ultimate prac- 
tical triumph, with all those who honestly receive 
it ? We dare not affirm this. 

It is not mere belief, nor is it mere honesty, 
that produces results in practice ; but it is the 
reception of the truth in an honed heart, which can 
never fail to result in practice. Now in this case 
the people are honest, and the people believe ; and 
if it be essential truth which they thus beheve, 
then, we say, the fact that in all those States of 
this republic in which climate and soil are adapted 
to African labor — -that precisely there the institu- 
tion of domestic slavery should be rooted in the 
practice of a large portion of this believing and 
honest people, and that it should strike its roots 
into the federal constitution, and penetrate deeper 
and deeper every year into the legislation of the 
whole country, and thus imphcate more and more 
the whole mass of this believing people in the sin 
of it, is a phenomenon, for which the postulate, that 
it is the truth they beheve, does not account — nor 
can it be made to account. 

A false principle may be beheved to be the truth. 
2 



26 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

And a false principle believed, has its results, be 
cause it is bebeved; and they very much resemble 
the results of truth believed. But we dare not 
admit that error can take hold of the conscience as 
pure principle, essential truth will do it. But^ 
again, there is another great psychological fact, 
which is often overlooked. A false principle may 
be honestly believed by minds which, at the same 
time, adopt antagonistic principles that are essen- 
tial truths ; but, owing to various causes calculated 
to confuse the ideas, the inconsistency is not per- 
ceived. Now, in such a case as this, the principle 
of essential truth is really brought into practical 
antagonism with essential error, and that in the 
same minds and upon the same subject. And as 
truth is more powerful than error in the minds of 
all honest people, the truth holds its way in prac- 
tical results, in defiance of false princi|)le, which is 
relatively powerless in the presence of truth. 
The antagonism between the false principle and 
the practical results of things may be perceived 
and acknowledged ; whilst the antagonism of the 
false principle with the true principle, which 
underlies and produces these practical results by a 
law of its own operation, is not only not perceived, 
but actually denied to exist. Now so long as this 
false principle is honestly believed to be true, and 
clearly perceived to be in conflict with the joracticey 



OF SLAVERY. 27 

but not perceived to be in conflict with other and 
more latent principles, which are in themselves 
truths, and admitted to be truths, and which pro- 
duce this practice, just so long will this false prin- 
ciple wage war, by the simple law of belief, against 
this idractice. But as this w^ar is not sufliciently 
potent to overturn this practice, because it is 
founded on the behef of principles tynie in them- 
selves, the practice will remain; and so long as 
this false belief remains, the strife with the practice 
must remain. Hence, if this be the state of the 
pubhc "mind in this country on the subject of 
African slavery, and it find no efficient remedy, 
w^e can see notliing awaiting us but intermin- 
able strife — men against themselves — the country 
against the country ! We forbear to sketch the 
future. 

But, young gentlemen, I submit if this psy- 
chology may not furnish a solution of the pheno- 
mena I have brought to your notice, and also a 
remedy against that otherwise interminable strif3 
which has already done so much to impair the 
moral power and bhght the fairest hopes of the 
country. May it not be that in admittmg the 
great abstract doctrine of Mr. Jefferson, that the 
principle of African slavery is, per se, sinful, and 
that, as such, the attributes and providence of Deity 
are opposed to all who practice it, we have most 



28 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

unwisely admitted a false doctrine ? And as this 
false doctrine, though honestly believed by a 
number sufficiently large to designate it as the 
national belief and the national feelino:, has 
utterly failed to aboHsh or even to modify the 
institution of African slavery, does it not afford a 
strong and clear presumption, to say the least, 
that this system which has held unbroken domi- 
nion over the African race in this country for over 
two centuries, and which continues to strike its 
roots deeper and deeper into all the relations of 
society, North and South — that this system, so 
potent in practical results, and so heedless of the 
fierce war that is waged against it, is, after all, 
iindey^laid somewhere by a vad mine of principles — 
pure essential truths — which are firmly rooted in the 
belief of all civilized and honest men, and which, 
all along, have imparted a spontaneous being and 
activity to the system, and will continue to do so 
perhajDS as long as any considerable portion of the 
race shall remain in the country ? 

If this hypothesis shall prove true, the sovereign 
remedy for the otherwise interminable strife, so 
jnotent for mischief, is at hand. Let us then free 
ourselves, let us free the country, of the dominion 
of Mr. Jefferson's philosophy, because it is false. 
In doing this, we shall terminate the conflict which 
now rages with so much violence. We shall be 



OFSLAVERY. 29 

free to address ourselves to any modifications in 
the system of African slavery which may be de- 
manded to adapt it to the progress of civilization. 

Regarding the whole subject in this hght, the 
duty of thoroughly investigating it seems to me 
to be laid upon the country as a moral necessity. 
It is useless to talk of " deUcacy and humiliation," 
in the presence of such fruits as a false philosophy 
has already borne plentifully throughout the land. 

As your chosen instructor, I owe you a service. 
I dare not give up your minds to the dominion of 
Wayland's Philosophy, (your text,) nor to any 
other text on this subject, now known to the 
country. I propose to lead your way in exploring 
the mine of truth which we may assume to under- 
lie the system of African slavery. We may look 
with confidence to reach these results : 

1. That the philosophy of Jefferson is false, and 
that the opposite is true, namely, that the great 
abstract principle of domestic slavery is, i^er se^ 
RIGHT ; and therefore it is not in the use but in 
the abuse of this principle that we are liable to 
sin, and thereby incur the Divine displeasure. 

2. That we should have a Southern literature. 
Our schools must be supplied with correct text- 
books on this subject. The poison which our 
texts now contain must be distilled from them by 
the learned of the land. The Church should not 



30 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

only right herself as she has done in the South, 
but her voice should be heard in the pulpit 
enforcing rigid principles, as well as right duties, 
upon this subject. Truth is at all times intoler- 
ant of any abuse. Her voice should certainly be 
heard under circumstances so urgent as the pre- 
sent. It is due to many in Southern communities 
whose minds are, more or less, disturbed by the 
long-continued abuse of the pulpit, and the social 
influence of mistaken ministers of religion in pri- 
vate life. It is due to the interests of our common 
country. We have lost much already in suppress- 
ing the truth. We have much to gain by boldly 
asserting her claims — for '' truth is great, and wiU 
prevail." 

" Truth crushed to earth -will rise again : 
The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
And dies amid her worshippers.'' 



OF SLAVERY. 31 



LECTURE II. 

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OF THE INSTITUTION OF 
DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 

If the system be sinful, per se, the sin of it must be found in the 
principle — Is the principle sinful ? — The principle defined — 
Objections to the term submission answered — The effect of Mr. 
Jefferson's doctrine upon many conscientious persons in the 
Southern States. 

I NOW propose to enter directly upon the in- 
quiry, Is the institution of domestic slavery sinful ? 
My plan will make it necessary, in this lecture, 
to hmit the inquiry to the jjrinciple of the institu- 
tion. If the institution be sinful, it must be so 
either in the abstract principle it involves, or in 
the specific form under which it embodies that 
principle, or in both. In either case, Mr. Jeffer- 
son's doctrine is verified ; for if the abstract prin- 
ciple be wrong, then the institution Avhich envel- 
ops the principle, and from which it derives its 
character, is of course wrong. It certainly is 
never right to act upon a wrong principle. Injus- 



32 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

tice, as a principle, is confessedly wrong in itself, 
according to the ideas of all mankind. No form 
which an action can take will make it right, if it 
proceed upon an unjust principle. Hence, no cir- 
cumstances can justify any man in knowingly 
doing an act of injustice. If the institution of 
domestic slavery envelops the idea of injustice, 
or any similar element, as its generic or abstract 
principle, in such case it would certainly be wrong 
both in principle and in practice ; that is, wrong 
in itself; and we should, without scruple, abandon 
the controversy. But a similar conclusion will 
not follow from a contrary proposition ; that is, it 
W'ill not follow, that if the abstract principle of 
the institution be right, the institution itself is 
right ; because the truth of a conditional proposi- 
tion does not turn on the hypothesis, but on the 
conBeqiienty as both true in itself and dependent 
upon the antecedent condition. That this is not 
the case in this instance is developed by the fact 
that the affirmative proposition involved in this 
conditional is, in itself, an absurdity, viz., "An ah- 
dract iwinci])le of action being right, the action 
itself is right." This is absurd. For instance, 
justice, in itself, is a right lorinciidle of action, ac- 
cording to the ideas of all mankind ; but it does 
not follow that all actions which proceed upon the 
principle oi justice are right actions. A. justly 



OFSLAVERY. , 83 

owes B. one hundred dollars : now, to enforce the 
payment of this money would be in itself a just 
act, because the money is honestly owed by A. ; 
but if, in doing this, B. should take the last bed 
from under the wife and children of A., and de- 
prive them of the last morsel of bread, the act 
itself would be a very wicked one, and he would 
be judged by mankind as but little less guilty 
than a highway robber, because this is a case in 
which the claims of benevolence march before the 
claims of mere justice. Not to respect the claims 
of benevolence in such a case is to act upon the 
pinciiole of pure selfishness. This act, then, would 
envelop also a wrong principle — selfishness ; and 
it is the nature of a wrong principle to spread the 
hue and poison of guilt over every act into which 
it enters. Truth, and its opposite, as principles, 
are striking examples. If we speak at all, we 
should speak the truth. Every utterance into 
which, in its proper, generic sense, the lie enters, 
even in the least degree, is a poisoned act ; and 
he who does this, is to that extent a basely wicked 
man, however smooth his tongue or winning his 
manners. Guilt has poisoned his utterance ; and 
if this vice be not speedily arrested in its progress, 
it will spread itself through the whole mass, and 
break down his entire moral constitution. But it 
does not certainly follow that all utterances which 

9* 



34 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

are in themselves truths , are right utterances. 
There are many facts, to which, if we were to 
give utterance, we should only speak the truth, 
but at the same time we all know that they should 
lie buried (perhaps for ever) in the depths of our 
own hearts. To injure our neighbor by speaking 
the truth when no claim of paramount justice de- 
manded it, and the claims of charity or kindness 
forbade it, would be a wicked act. For a child in 
a similar way to injure a parent would be the con- 
duct of a demon. All such acts, though they 
envelop a right principle — truth — do at the same 
time envelop a wrong principle — malevolence; and 
it is the nature of wrong principle to stamp every 
act into which it enters with the character of 
guilt — it is ivrong. 

The conclusion we reach is this : If the abstract 
or generic principle of an action be tvrong^ the 
action itself is therefore ivrong; but that, if the 
abstract principle be right, it does not follow that 
the action is therefore right, but that the action 
itself is either right or ivrong, as may be determined 
by the presence or absence of certain other coinci- 
dent principles ; or, as we usually say, as may be 
determined by the circumstances. 

If, then, the abstract principle of the institu- 
tion of domestic slavery be wrong, the institution 
itself is wrong, and ought to be abolished ; but if 



OFSLAVERY. 35 

the principle be correct, the institution itself is or 
is not right, just as the circumstances of the case 
may or may not require that it be maintained ; as 
in the case of any other act involving correct prin- 
ciple. The points to be settled, then, are — 

I. Is the abstract or generic principle of do- 
metic slavery right or ivrong ? And if it be right, 
then, 

II. Is the system (so far as it is a system, 
simply) of domestic slavery, enveloping this ab- 
stract principle, justified by the circumstances of 
the case ? If so, the system itself is also right. 
Whether many slaveholders or few, or any at all, 
are themselves doing right in the exercise of the 
legal functions of that relation, are questions 
foreign from the present inquiries, even on the 
hypothesis that the system itself is right. Their 
conduct, be it right or wrong, (and in many cases 
it is right, and in many others it is no doubt 
wrong,) does not at all affect the truth or error of 
the questions now before us. It is not with the 
conduct of individual men that we now deal ; but 
with the act of that great being, the State — the 
system of African slavery established by law in 
the country — and with that profound principle of 
truth or error which not only makes it a system^ 
but makes it a right system or a wrong system, 
as the case may be. 



36 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

The philosojoliy which prevails on the question 
before us has originated two schools — the abo- 
Utionist and the anti-slaver?/. The abolitionist 
maintain that the abstract 'princ{])le of the system 
is ivro7ig, and that therefore the system itself is 
wrong under all circumstances. The anti-slavery 
school agree with the aboHtionist that the princi' 
pie is ivrong^ but divide among themselves as to 
the conclusion they draw. Some hold that the 
institution itself is not wrong under all cii'cum- 
stances, and that therefore slaves may be held 
under it in given cases without guilt ; and others, 
that the institution is vjrong in itself^ and should be 
abolished by the State, but that the holding of 
slaves under this vjvong system is not an act m 
itself wrong in all cases. 

A strict analysis of the subject will show that 
here is a strange medley of principles and conclu- 
sions. I shall be found to agree with each, and 
to disagree with each. I disagree with both on 
the abstract principle. Hence, I disagree with the 
abolitionists on the whole proposition. But I 
agree with the abolitionists that if the abstract 
principle be zvrong, the institution is wrong in all 
cases. I say wdth them that all who grant the 
antecedent of this conditional are bound to admit 
the consequent. Hence I disagree with the anti- 
slavery school in admitting that the principle is 



OF SLAVERY, 37 

wrong ; but in so far as they admit that the sys- 
tem may be right under given circumstances, or 
that slaves may be held under it without guilt, we 
agree. I stand, therefore, committed to the affirm- 
ative of the question, both in regard to the prin- 
ciple and to the institution, and hence proceed to 
discuss the question : 

I. Is the abstract principle of domestic slavery 
right or wrong ? 

I have already noticed that the pubhc mind 
has been so long abused on this subject, that it is 
usual for highly inteUigent persons, who have no 
idea of affirming that the slaveholder is necessarily 
a sinner, to allow that slaveholding is wrong in 
][)rinciple. But this, to say the least, is a strange 
abuse of terms. The right or wrong of an action, 
in itself considered, is determined by the principle 
which it envelops, and the moral character of the 
actor is determined by his intention in the per- 
formance, or by his voluntary or involuntary 
ignorance of the principle. It is reasonable, there- 
fore, to infer that the pubhc attach no well-defined 
meaning to the phrase, the abstract principle of 
slavery. Its definite meaning, however, is indis- 
pensable in this investigation ; and, indeed, on all 
occasions, if we would speak correctly, and avoid 
a misapplication of this term. 



38 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

What, then, is the principle of the system of 
domestic slavery ? 

Observe that it is the principle for which we 
inquire. What, then, is the system itself? For 
(to speak with strict philosophical propriety) our 
idea of the system is the chronological condition 
of our idea of the principle, as our idea of the 
principle is the logical condition of our idea of 
the system. We must perceive an action before 
we can determine what is the principle of it, 
although we must have an antecedent knowledge 
of the principle before we can determine what 
character that principle gives to the action. 

The system is made up of two correlative rela- 
tions — master and slave. Here there are but two 
ideas — the idea of master and the idea of slave, as 
correlatives. These are all the ideas that enter 
into the system, as a S3^stem merely. Whatever 
abstract principle, therefore, this system envel- 
ops, is to be found in these two terms. It need 
not and should not be sought for anywhere else ; 
for these two relations make the whole system. 
Without these it could not be a system of slavery; 
and with these, it is therein, and in virtue of that 
fact alone, a system of slavery. The answer to 
the question depends upon the meaning of these 
terms alone. What, then, is the correlative 
meaning of these terms ? 



OFSLAVERY. 39 

^^ Master. The Latin is magister, compounded 
of the root of magis, major, greater ; and the Teu- 
tonic, ster, Saxon, deoran, to deerT The word, 
then, signifies a chief director — one ivlio governs or 
directs either men or business. The leading idea is 
that of governor by his own will. 

Slave. The deinvation of this word is not a 
settled question. There is no difficulty, how- 
ever, in fixing the meaning — one who is subject 
to the tuill or direction of another. 

As a concrete, master means one who is govern- 
ing in some particidar instance or form by his own 
will ; and slave, one who is so governed in some 
particular instance. But these are abstract terms. 
The ideas they convey may be conceived and held 
in the mind, apart from any particular application 
of the one or the other. And whether they are 
considered as abstract or concrete terms, they are 
correlatives — the one impHes the other. 

A system of slavery is a state or order of things 
estabhshed by law or custom, in which one set of 
men are the masters to a given extent, and another 
are the slaves to that extent. 

Domestic slavery is an instance in which the 
order or state of things constituting the system 
itself, is made a part of the family relation. The 
head of the family is the master, and the slave is 
subject, as to the use of his time and labor, to the 



40 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

control of the master, as the other members of the 
family. Domestic slavery, therefore, is one of the 
forms of the general system of slavery. The sys- 
tem has existed under various forms. The ancient 
system of villanage in England, of serfdom in 
Russia, the peon system of Mexico, as well as 
domestic slavery in the United States, are all ex- 
amples of slavery proper. This leads us to re- 
mark that the terms master and slave are not only 
abstract but general abstract terms : general^ be- 
cause the abstract ideas they convey are common 
to each of these conditions. Each of these sys- 
tems is pervaded by generic principles or ideas, 
which classify the whole as belonging to the same 
genus — system of slavery. The abstract principle 
of slavery is therefore the general idea, which is 
enveloped ahke in each and every form or system 
of slavery. Hence, as the abstract idea of master 
is governing by one's own will, and that of slave 
is submission or subjection to such control; and 
as a system of slavery is a condition into which 
these ideas enter in correlation — it follows that 
the ahstract principle of slavery is the general prin- 
ciple of submission or subjection to control hy the ivill 
of another. This is the fundamental idea which 
is common to every form of slavery. No condi- 
tion into which this does not enter as a funda- 
mental idea is a state of slavery. Every condition 



OF SLAVERY. 41 

into which it enters is a state of slavery to the 
extent in which it does so enter. 

Submission or subjection to control hj the luill of 
another being our definition of the abstract princi- 
ple of the system of slavery, tw^o questions arise : 
First — Is this a correct definition ? and second — 
If it be correct, is it a sound, legitimate principle, 
which may and ought to be adopted in practice, 
whenever it may be wise to do so ? 

First — Is the definition correct? 

Subjection is the being put under the control of 
another. Submission is the delivery of one's self to 
the control of another. The one imphes the con- 
sent of the will, and the other does not. That 
subjection is an idea which fulfils the condition of 
slavery will not be disputed by any. Hence our 
definition is sufficiently wide to embrace that 
which is conceded by aU. But our definition 
gives much greater breadth to the principle. It 
takes in suhnission as weU as subjection. It as- 
sumes that the willing or the nilling of the sub- 
ject of this form of control does not necessarily 
enter into the principle w^hich logically defines it. 
He who is subjected to such control is a slave ; 
and he who submits to such control is not the less 
so. This principle might therefore be still further 
generalized — control by the tvill of another, with its 
correlative idea submission or subjection only im- 



42 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

plied. But we prefer to define it in the terms 
employed, as being more likely to be appreciated 
in the sense intended. Are we correct in giving 
this wide compass of meaning to the principle in 
question ? Do we assume too much when we say 
that a man is not the less a captive, and subject 
to the control of the captor, because he volunta- 
rily gives himself up as such ? Is a man then the 
less a slave who voluntarily consents to be con- 
trolled by the will of another ? The popular use 
of terms in all languages shows that mankind have 
conceded this point. They all apply the idea of 
slave to such a case. Nay, more, they furnish a 
constructive meaning of the term based upon this 
meaning. They call a man a " slave to his pas- 
sions," who has voluntarily given himself up to be 
controlled in his future volitions by his passions 
as the subjective motive of his actions. " No 
bondage is more grievous than that which is vol- 
untary," says Seneca. " To be a slave to the 
passions is more grievous than to be a slave to a 
tyrant," says Pythagoras. "No one can be free 
who is intent on the indulgence of evil passions," 
says Plato. And Cicero says, "All wicked men 
are slaves." St. Paul, Rom. vi. 16, uses the term 
in the same sense, and with the greatest propri- 
ety : " Know ye not that to whom ye yield 
yourselves servants \^ovXov(;, slaves] to obey, his 



OPSLAVERY. * 43 

servants [slaves] ye are to whom ye obey; 
whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto right- 
eousness ?" (See Dr. A. Clarke, in he.) And 
again, Ephesians vi. 5-7 : " Servants, [cJovAo^,] 
be obedient to them that are your masters accord- 
ing to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in single- 
ness of your hearts as unto Christ : not with eye- 
service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of 
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; with 
good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to 
men." Doing the will of God — tvith good tvill. We 
must certainly understand that it was the duty of 
those slaves to give both assent and consent to 
their condition, as a thing coming to them in the 
order of God's providence, and pleasing to him; 
and therefore serve their masters with the same 
willing obedience, because therein they were serv- 
ing the Lord. For these persons, we may sup- 
pose, were originally made slaves by subjection. 
They are exhorted to submit themselves not only 
to the particular commands of their masters, but 
also to their providential condition. The com- 
mands of their masters might be obeyed from 
mere prudential considerations. In this case, 
their obedience would be without the rehgious 
element. Paul exhorts them to religious obedi- 
ence. Many, no doubt, obeyed : gave the consent 
of their wills, as they gave the assent of their 



44 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

understandings ; and hence, cheerfully submitting 
to their providential condition as from the Lord, 
they obeyed their masters " in singleness of heart, 
as unto Christ." They submitted, as any other 
good man submits, with consent as well as assent 
to his providential condition, and goes forth to the 
duties of that condition with a cheerful heart. 
Their condition was therefore changed from that 
of subjection to one of submission, and for as long a 
time as God might be pleased to continue it. Did 
they, by reason of such submission, cease to be 
slaves ? Certainly not. They were slaves when 
in a state of subjection. They were not the less 
so when, from the high Christian motives com- 
manded by the apostle, their condition was 
changed to one of submission. Be this, however, 
as it may, the following case is decisive of the 
whole question. The ancient Jew, who gave him- 
self into slavery, was not the less a slave because 
he did it voluntarily; and the Mosaic law pro- 
vided that such should be held and treated as 
slaves in perpetuity. See Exodus xxi. 5, 6 : "And 
if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, 
my wife, and my children : / will not go out free ; 
then his master shall bring him unto the judges : 
he shall also bring him unto the door, or to the 
door-post; and his master shall bore his ear 
through with an awl ; and he shall serve him for 



OF SLAVERY. 4# 

evo-r Thus the law of God made a man a slave 
who became so by his own voluntary act. A state 
of submission, therefore, to control hy the ivill of 
another, is no less a state of slavery than a state 
of siihjection. If the state itself be one of slavery, 
the idea, submission, which makes it so, is in this 
case an element of the system. Hence, the true 
philosophical definition of the principle, as before 
stated, is control by the tuill of another, with its 
correlative (subjection, or submission, as the case 
might be) impHed. It may be the one; it may 
be the other ; and wdiichever it is in a given case, 
is the mere logical accident of that case, and does 
not at all affect the jirinciple itself. 

As the whole of the abstract idea of the system 
of slavery is to be found in the terms master and 
slave in correlation ; and submission and subjection 
to control by the tvill of another is the whole idea 
contained in the correlative sense of these terms, 
(certainly nothing more and nothing less,) the 
definition given is the whole, and nothing more, of 
the abstract principle of the institution. Who- 
ever is in this condition is to that extent a slave. 
Whatever system envelops this principle — it mat- 
ters not what form it may take, what coincident 
principles it may include, or what name may be 
given to it, or how far the practical working of 
this principle may be modified — it is nevertheless 



46 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

to the extent that this principle enters into it a 
system of slavery. It may be a wke system, be- 
cause it is a necessary means for the accomplish- 
ment of somei desii'able end ; or it may be an un- 
wise system, because it is a means unsuited to the 
end proposed. But neither hypothesis will at all 
affect the principle. That is the same in the one 
case as in the other ; that is, whether it be abused 
or properly used, the principle itself is the same. 
But can it be properly used at all ? This leads to 
the second inquiry — Is this a sound, legitimate 
principle, which may and should be adopted in 
practice whenever it may be wise to do so ? 

We need not scruple to admit that if injustice 
or any similar idea should be found to enter as an 
element into the abstract principle, it is a poisoned 
principle, upon which no honest man will allow 
himself to act. But is this the case ? Doubtless, 
there may be injustice in slavery, as in every sys- 
tem which has persons for its subjects : that is, 
any master acting under the authority of this sys- 
tem may perpetrate great injustice ; but we main- 
tain that when he does so he introduces a princi- 
ple foreign to the system, and for Avhich he is 
individually responsible : he does that which mars 
the character of the whole performance, and 
stamps his own personal conduct with the guilt of 
injustice. 



OFSLAVERY. - 47 

However carelessly many persons are accus- 
tomed to speak on this subject, yet we may assure 
ourselves that a little reflection will satisfy any 
candid mind that the principle is a legitimate one, 
and cannot with any degree of propriety be re- 
garded as sinful. It will readily occur to all 
intelHgent minds, that this principle enters more ^ 
or less as an essential element into every form of 
human government. No government can be appro- 
priate to human beings, in their present fallen con- 
dition, that does not embody this generic element 
in a greater or less degree. 

A form of control, clearly embodying the idea 
of government, and at the same time conferring 
absolute freedom, is a solecism. If men would 
uniformly govern themselves aright by their own 
wills, there could be no necessity for government, 
or room for its exercise, at least in the sense in 
which we now understand the term. A govern- 
ment adapted to such a people, I allow, might be 
without the element of physical control, so indis- 
pensable in human governments. It would be 
(compared to human) a modification of govern- 
ment — if government it might be called — for which 
our language supphes no term. We cannot con- 
ceive it to be appropriate to any intelligences this 
side of the " spirits of just men made perfect in 
heaven." These, we conceive, are sufficiently 



48 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

intelligent to understand clearly and correctly all 
the duties appertaining to the various relations 
they sustain, and so perfected in moral feehng as 
to fulfil these duties from the impulses of their 
own sponta7ieoiis volitions. Government, as it may 
be understood and applied to such inteUigences, 
must be essentially different from that which is 
appropriate to beings of arbitrary volition; and 
whOj therefore, should be held to accountability in 
the exercise of their freedom by the most rigid 
restrictions from penal sanctions. To these latter 
a government that did not embody the iwincijple of 
slavery would be no government at all. 

Authoritative control, with its correlative, (ac- 
cording to the more general classification given,) 
is the abstract principle of slavery. But a state 
of freedom is the opposite of a state of slavery. 
The abstract principle of a state of freedom or 
liberty is, therefore, the opposite to that of sla- 
\ very. Hence self-control is the abstract principle 
of freedom, as its opposite — control hy another — is 
the principle of slavery. 

Now every government adapted to fallen beings 
whose personal or mental liberty consists in arU- 
trary volition, is necessarily a combination of 
these two opposite elements — the principle of 
freedom and the principle of slavery. Either of 
these entering alone into the system of govern- 



OF SLAVERY. 49 

ment, would in the end defeat the legitimate ob- 
ject of government — the happiness of the people. 
If the government were based upon the principle 
of freedom alone, allowing every man the unre- 
stricted liberty of self-control, the wildest anarchy 
would result : if to avoid this the opposite prin- 
ciple should be adopted, allowing no liberty of 
self-control, but subjecting all to control by the 
will of another, it would be found as impracticable 
as the other was disastrous, and, as far as success- 
ful, only appropriate to idiots and infants. A 
good government is such a harmonious union of 
these opposing elements, as adapts it to the wants 
of the people. For as, in chemistry, elements in 
opposite states of electricity unite and form valu- 
able compounds, so in political science, antago- 
nistic principles enter necessarily into the composi- 
tion of government. The character or kind of the 
government is defined by the ratios in w^hich these 
elements enter into its formation. If the principle 
of slavery enter very largely into the government, 
in a highly consolidated form, it is then an abso- 
lute monarchy or military despotism. If the 
exercise of this supreme power is distributed 
among the heads of families, it assumes the patri- 
archal or domestic form. If this principle enter 
in a less degTee, but still in a much greater degree 
than the principle of self-control, some one of the 
3 



50 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

forms of constitutional monarchy or hereditary 
aristocracy Avill result. If these opposite prin- 
ciples enter into the government in somewhat 
equal ratios, it is then a democratic republic — a 
well-balanced government — such as ours is de- 
signed to be. Hence we see that God has ren- 
dered the blessing of civil freedom inseparable 
from the presence and operation of the principle 
of slavery. Such is the present arrangement, 
that government can no otherwise secure freedom 
to its subjects than by abridging them to a cer- 
tain extent of self-control ; or, in other words, 
government must place its subjects under the 
operation of the principle of slavery in some 
things, the more effectually to secure their practi- 
cal freedom in other things. And the citizen who 
may be determined not to submit to this order of 
things, and shall persist to do, from the action of 
a depraved will, what the State — his master — 
says he shall not do, will, sooner or later, find 
himself reduced to a condition of most abject 
slavery, Avithin the walls of a pubKc prison. 

It is entirely obvious that a government, to 
secure the highest amount of happiness to its sub- 
jects, must be adapted to their social and moral 
condition. This adaptation, as before intimated, 
can only be effected by the ratios in which the 
antagonistic elements of liberty and of slavery shall 



OF SLAVERY. 51 

enter into the composition of the goyernmeut. 
Now this is virtually the position, after all, of a 
no less distinguished abolitionist and literary man 
than Dr. Wayland, the author of your text. On 
the subject " of the mode in tvhich the objects of 
society are accomidlished^' after bringing to view the 
different forms of government — "wholly heredi- 
tary" — " partly hereditary" — " partly elective" — 
and " wholly elective" — he asks, " Which of these 
is the preferable form of government ?" and adds, 
" The answer must be conditional. The best form 
of government for any people, is the best that its 
present moral and social condition render j^racticable. 
A people may be so entirely surrendered to the in- 
fluence of imssion^ and so feebly influenced by moral 
restraint^ that a government which rehed on moral 
restraint could not exist for a day. In this case 
a subordinate and inferior principle yet remains — 
the princij)le of fear ; and the only resort is to a 
government of force, or a mihtary despotism." 
Now what is all this but a statement of the great 
truth which we have akeady discussed, only in 
different terms, that a government over a people, 
in the moral and social condition described by Dr. 
Wayland, which rehed upon " moral restraint,'' 
that is, upon the principle of self-control, " could 
not exist for a day ;' and that for such a people, 
" the only resort is to a government of force, or a 



52 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

militaiy despotism" — that is, the highest conceiv- 
able form or system of slavery. Now this is said, 
by Dr. Wajland, after waging a relentless war 
against both the principle and practice of slavery ! 
Is not this an instance in which a great and honest 
mind, having adopted certain false notions in an- 
tagonism with the system of slavery, wars against 
this system ; whilst, at the same time, this system 
is underlaid, even in his own method of reasoning, 
by a vast mine of fundamental principles which, 
in spite of him, give it both being and activity ? 
Why need one so learned as Dr. Wayland allow 
the truth to escape his notice, because in one con- 
nection it wears the livery of one form of words, 
and in another connection very properly assumes 
the hvery of a different form of language ? 

To proceed : History informs us of many such 
communities as those defined by Dr. Wayland, to 
which any other form of government would be 
entirely inappropriate but the one he calls a 
'^government of force or a military despotism^'' 
which is none other than the very highest form 
of slavery. And your own good sense, young 
gentlemen, must assure you that it would be 
grossly absurd to confer on reckless boys of fif- 
teen, or a mass of stupid pagans, all the rights of 
free citizens of this great repubhc. No : the one 
class should be retained under the slavery (for let 



OF SLAVERY. 53 

US not scruple to call things by their right names) 
of autJioritative control by their parents ; and the 
other should be subjected to the operation of the 
same general principle by the State. And to 
adopt Dr. Wayland's own language on this point 
— suicidal as it is to him — we add, in regard to 
such citizens as are '^ entirely surrendered to the 
influence of passion,'' that " after a government of 
force has been established, and habits of subor- 
dination have been formed, while the moral re- 
straints are yet too feeble for self-government, an 
hereditary government, which addresses itself to 
the imagination, and strengthens itself by th€ influ- 
ence of domestic connections and established usage, 
may be as good a form of government as they can 
sustain. As they advance in intellectual and 
moral cultivation, it may advantageously become 
more and more elective ; and in a suitable moral 
condition, it may be wholly so." Now, to vary 
the language in which these important facts are 
expressed, so as to bring out the great philosophi- 
cal principles which so evidently underlie them, 
we would say, that when the government adapted 
to an ignorant and depraved people has operated 
under wise appliances to form habits of subordina- 
tion among the masses, a modification of the ele- 
ments of government is indicated as best suited 
to their condition. Some one of the forms of 



64 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

hereditary government may be adopted. In this 
government, the princi^yle of slavey^?/ is made to 
oj^erate less actively, and there is more room for 
the play of the opposite principle of self-control. 
But as the moral principle is yet too feeble for 
self-government proper, it is still held in strong 
check by its antagonistic principle — the principle 
of slavery. As they advance in intellectual and 
moral cultivation, a further modification of the 
relative operation of these principles is indicated 
as proper. It may become more and more elec- 
tive : that is, more and more of a democratic re- 
public ; and in a suitable moral condition it may 
be wholly so : that is, a government in which the 
principle of slavery and the principle of liberty ope- 
rate in about equal ratios. We call this a well- 
balanced government. If it fulfil this condition, 
it is because these opposing principles so check 
and counterpoise each other that the government 
is not likely to be unbalanced. One holds the 
other in equilihrio. The principle of self-control is 
in such vigorous operation among the masses, and 
so craned up to a vigilant activity by coincident 
forces derived from intelligence and interest, that 
the principle of slavery — control hy the ivill of 
another^ which in this instance is the will of the 
majority — is not competent, according to the theory 
of this government, to override and crush the 



Of^ SLAVERY 



liberties of the country. On the other hand, the 
jyrinciple of slavery^ which is the great jyradical 
force of the goyernment, enfeebled as it is by a 
prevailing popular enthusiasm for the widest free- 
dom, and deriving no lyresent aid from interest, 
finds this deficiency so fully supplied by the fact 
that its impersonation is the ivill of the majorifi/, 
that it is competent to resist the most violent 
shocks which may come up from the misguided 
self-control of the masses. How often have we 
seen, in the history of our glorious republic, the 
excited passions of the masses, misdirecting their 
power of self-control, sweep like a hurricane over 
the bosom of our political sea, and lash the waters 
into a storm that threatened to engulf the hopes 
of the nation ! But so vital and so active was that 
principle which constitutes the true force of the 
government, that that great ideal, the State — the 
" Ship of State !" — outrode the tempest in perfect 
safety ; and last, as first, the flag of liberty still 
streamed from the mast-head. 

Now, this is as far as the science of free gov- 
ernment, so called, has been carried into practical 
operation ; and in this we cannot fail to see that 
the restraining and controlling jjrinciple of slaver?/ 
is still in vigorous operation. We call it, by way 
of eminence, difree government; and so it is, rela- 
tively to other forms, a very free government. But 



56 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

then it is only relatively, not absolutely, so ; for 
if it were rendered entirely free, by excluding the 
oj^eration of the principle of slavery altogether, it 
would be reduced at once to a form of government 
which authorizes every man to do in all things and 
in all respects just as he might please to do — a 
guaranty which in the present state of fallen 
human nature it could never make good, and, 
therefore, virtually it would be no government at 
all. 

Seeing that the abstract principle of slavery 
enters necessarily and essentially as an element 
into every form of civil government, it is worse 
than idle to affirm that it is wrong, fer se. But 
more than this, it has the sanction of Jehovah : 
for government, of which we have seen it is a 
necessary element, is expressly declared in Holy 
Scripture to be his ordinance. It entered largely 
into the theocracy by which he governed the 
Jewish nation ; and indeed is equally prominent in 
the government which he exercises over all man- 
kind, if we take it in its wide sense as compre- 
hending the ultimate rewards and punishments 
that await us in a future state. How imbecile 
then is it to say of the system of slavery that it 
is wrong in the abstract — wrong in principle ! 
How little do men consider what they affirm in 
this declaration ! Certainlv no man in his senses 



OF SLAVERY. 57 

will gravely affirm of an essential principle of 
government that it is wrong ! We repeat, tli(;n, 
it is really time that certain politicians, as well as 
ecclesiastics, had learned to chasten their language 
on this subject. They have already accomphshed 
incalculable mischief. They have conceded that 
to the folly of flmaticism which, if it were true, 
would render domestic slavery, with every other 
form of civil government, wholly indefensible, and 
their supporters the objects of the pity and scorn 
of the civilized world. 

There are many among ourselves who, though 
they are not sufficient metaphysicians to detect 
and expose the error of a conclusion, are suffici- 
ently candid to admit that if the conceded dogma 
of Jefferson be true, domestic slavery can never 
be justified in practice by any circumstances what- 
ever; and they have pious feeling enough to 
prompt them to great hesitation in supporting the 
institution in view of this admission, although they 
are pressed to do so by circumstances of urgent 
duty to the slaves themselves. In this state of 
things there arises in many sensitive minds a most 
painful state of feeling. Pressed on the one hand 
by what is assumed to be correct principle, and on 
the other by the claims of a high moral necessity, 
— the necessity of governing and providing for 
their slaves, which they erroneously suppose to 
8* 



58 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

be in conflict with right principle, — they really find 
themselves in a most embarrassing situation^ from 
which they sigh to be released. Many such have 
quietly retired from the State of their nativity 
and choice as their only alternative. (This may 
account for more of those removals, usually attri- 
buted to worn-out lands, than many of our poli- 
ticians wot of) Others remain, it is true, but it 
is rather an act of subjection than submission. 
Citizens of this class (and it is not a small class) 
are of course always liable to become the victims 
of any fanatical movement on the subject of sla- 
very that may be afoot in the land. To all this 
mischief, the speakers and writers in ques- 
tion have contributed their full share. Yea, 
for myself, I doubt not they have contributed 
much more to dissatisfy the religious community 
of the South — the large majority of the whole 
population — than all the abolitionists of the North 
put together. It is doubtless the magic of their 
names which at present enables the M. E. Church 
(the most regular and well-defined anti-slavery, if 
not indeed abolitionist, association this day exist- 
ing in the country) to maintain its footing in the 
District of Columbia, the States of Delaware and 
Maryland, and along the northern border of East- 
ern and through a large part of Western Virginia, 
together with a portion of Kentucky and Mis- 



OF SLAVERY. 59 

somi. It is the authority of their names, also, 
which so disquiets the feehngs of many good 
people in the whole country as to make them the 
victims of the political legerdemain of certain poli- 
ticians, who, under cover of " free-soiHsm," " fugi- 
tive slave law," and " Nebraska" excitements, are 
overriding their rights and insulting the whole 
country before the civilized world ; and who, last 
though not least, are daily oppressing the African 
population by the incubus of a morbid sensibility 
in regard to them, which utterly prevents the 
system under which they live from any thing like 
a reasonable participation in the progress of civili- 
zation. In view of these facts, we again assume 
that it is really time they had learned to chasten 
their language on the subject of African slavery. 
Public opinion in the whole country must soon 
become intolerant of so great an abuse of the 
truth. 



60 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE III. 

OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

Objections classified — Popular views discussed — "All men are 
born free and equal" — "All men are created equal" — "All 
men in a state of nature are free and equal " — And the parti- 
cular form in which Dr. Wayland expresses the popular idea, 
viz., " The relation in which men stand to each other is the 
relation of equality ; not equality of condition, but equality of 
rigid" — Remarks on Dr. Way land's course — His treatise on 
Moral Science as a text-book. 

It is now appropriate to consider some of the 
speculations in Moral Science which may be sup- 
posed to invalidate the position discussed in the 
preceding lecture. As far as they have come 
under my notice, they all belong to one class. 
The general objection may be thus stated : Slavert/ 
is an abridgment of rights to tuhich the enslaved are 
entitled hy nature ; or, 7nore logically, slavery is an 
abridgment of inalienable rights. This doctrine is 
expressed in different forms of language, but is 
essentially the same in meaning. It is with the 



OP SLAVERY. 61 

popular view of this subject that I propose to deal 
in this lecture. Hence I shall restrict my remarks, 
in the first place, to the objection as it usually 
exists in thought^ and notice several popular forms 
of expression : 

1. "All men are born free and equal." 
Until within a few years past, this dogma was 
stereotyped in all the text-books of the country — 
from the horn-book to the most eminent treatise 
on Moral Science for colleges and universities. 
From the days of Jefferson until now, it has been 
the text for the noisy twaddle of the "stump- 
politician," and the profound discussions of the 
grave senator in the Congress of the United 
States. If this dogma, as it generally exists in 
thought, be true, it will follow, that any and every 
abridgment of liberty is a violation of original and 
natural right — that is, inalienable right. Hence 
every system of slavery must be based upon a 
false principle. The popular sense in which this 
language is generally understood, from father to 
son, is evidently the literal sense. But taken in 
this sense, the doctrine is utterly false. For men 
are born in a state of infancy, and grow up to the 
state of manhood ; and infants are entirely inca- 
pable of freedom, and do not enjoy a particle of it. 
They are not, therefore, born equally free, but in 
a state of entire subjection. They grow up, it is 



62 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

true — if they be not imbeciles — to a degi'ee of 
mental liberty, that is, the liberty of arbitrary 
volition in the plain matters of 7igM and ivrong, 
and hence are accountable ; but the degree of this 
liberty, or how far they are thus mentally free, 
deiDcnds upon the accident of birth, education, and 
numerous coincident circumstances, which destroys 
all equahty of mental freedom ; and as to equality 
in other respects, it is scarcely a decent regard to 
the feelings of mankind to affirm their equality. 
They are not ])hysically equal. No two men will 
compare exactly in this respect. They are not 
'politically equal. The history of all human gov- 
ernments, throughout all time, shows this. To 
be "hewers of wood and drawers of w^ater," in 
unequal and subordinate positions, to the fetv, has 
been the lot of the great mass of mankind from 
the days of Adam. But, says the "socialist," 
(to whom the doctrine is far more creditable,) 
"this latter is precisely the state of things we 
deprecate, and affirm that such was never the 
intention of Deity, but that it is his will that there 
should be no such inequality among men ; that his 
will is in itself the right; and w^hat it is his will 
we should be, it is 7ight for us to be, and it is 
our right to he; and that system which makes our 
condition other than this, deprives us of our rights.'* 
This is the philosophy of sociahsm. 



OP SLAVERY. 63 

Now it is true that much of the inequahty of 
condition among men is owing to an abuse of the 
superior power which intelHgence confers upon the 
few ; but this admission does not advance the 
cause of sociahsm. For if it were allowed that 
the will of God is the only rule of right — that is, 
in itself the rights instead of this, that that which 
in itself is the right is the will of God — it will not 
help the argument. For, on this hypothesis, the 
will of God is the only rule of right, as on the 
other it conforms to the only rule of right ; so 
that on either, the will of God may be taken as a 
certain rule of right. What then does he will? 
In regard to the present subject of inquiry, w^e can 
only judge what he wills from that which he has 
done. Now we have seen that he has not en- 
dow^ed the souls of men with equal capacity, nor 
has he even placed them in circumstances of pro- 
vidential equahty, favorable to an equal develop- 
ment of the unequal capacities he has given them. 
Superior intelhgence is the condition of inequality. 
Where this exists, there is essential inequality, 
and practical inequality cannot usually be avoided. 
Hence superior and inferior, and cognate terms, 
are found in all languages, and the conditions they 
represent are found amongst all people. Hence 
inequality among men is the will of God ; and if 
his will is the rule of our rights^ we have no ab- 



64 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

stract right to equality. It is rather our duty to 
submit to that inequaHty of condition which results 
from the superior intelligence or moral power of 
others. Superior physical power may, for a time, 
give us the ascendency ; but things will find their 
level, Superior intelligence will ultimately bear 
its possessor to his destined eminence. A state 
of oppression is not one of inequality merely. It 
is one in which superior intelligence has degraded 
and afflicted those who rank below it, in an inferior 
condition ; or it is an instance in which, by the 
aid of brute force, those of inferior condition have, 
for a time, risen at the expense of those of superior 
intelligence. If we are oppressed, in either of 
these ways, we have a right to complain, because 
our oppressors violate the wiU of God concerning 
ns — violate our rio-hts : but we have no ridit to 
complain of inequaUf^ merely. Inequahty is the 
law of Heaven. He who complains of this is not 
less luucise than the prisoner who frets at his con- 
dition, and chafes himself against the bars and 
bolts of the prison which securely confines him ! 

But if the dogma in question cannot be made to 
serve the cause of truth, it has often been made 
to serve the cause of poKcy. Many there are 
who have not scrupled to use it as a tocsin to call 
together a clan, not their inferiors merely, but so 
degraded in then- inferiority, that, for the price of 



OF SLAVERY. 65 

being honored with the distinction of "free and equal 
feUovj-citizcnSy'' they have been ready as menials 
to bow their necks to their masters, debase them- 
selves, dishonor the state, and insult Jehovah ! 

2. "All men are created equaL" 

This is only another form in which the social 
philosophy is pleased to express its one idea. We 
need only notice the additional error acquired by 
the change of language. "All men," it is said, 
" are created." It is written in the first of Gene- 
sis, that " God created man in his own image : in 
the image of God created he him : male and female 
created he them." The term " man" is, of course, 
to be understood in its generic sense, and all that 
is affirmed is, that God directly created Adam and 
Eve, and all their posterity seminally in them; 
and from whom, therefore, they have proceeded, 
as to both soul and body, by generation, and not 
by a separate act of creation by Jehovah. Now 
of these two created beings, one was placed in 
direct and immediate subordination to the other ; 
and although it be true, as it often practically is, 
that the fall has reversed this order of things, and 
placed the wife at the head of affairs, still the 
doctrine of headship, the doctrine of inequality/, 
prevails in the one case as in the other. It is not 
amiss, however, to remark in passing, that even 
so great and humble a man as the Apostle Paul 



66 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

preferred the old-fashioned doctrine : he insists 
that we observe the ori2:inal order of things : '" I 
suffer not a woman to usurp authority over the 
man;" 1 Tim. ii. 12; "but they are cpnimanded 
to be under obedience, as also saith the law." 1 
Cor. xiv. 34. 

As to other points in this dogma, they have 
been already treated. We only add that philoso- 
phy, no less than religion and true patriotism, can- 
not fail to regret that a dogma setting each of their 
claims aside, and teaching the purest agrarianism, 
and that under the most deadly form — the form 
oi pure abstract truth — should have found its way 
into that immortal instrument, the Declaration of 
American Independence. We cannot otherwise 
account for it than by the fact that one of the 
presiding minds of that great paper had become 
strongly tinctured with the infidel philosophy of 
France. 

3. "All men in a state of nature are free and 
equal." 

This is the form of words by which that great 
man, Locke, involved himself in the doctrine of 
socialism. The school of philosophy has freed 
itself of the errors of Locke, and of much of the 
infidelity of Hume which those errors precipitated 
upon the world. The error now under notice, in 
the unsettled political state of France, was seized 



OF SLAVERY. 67 

upon by the Communists : infidelity and anarchy 
followed. From them, it was consecrated in an 
abridged form of words in the greatest state paper 
that was ever written, — the " Declaration of Inde- 
pendence," — and incorporated into the popular 
language of the American people, and, indeed, into 
that of every people where the English language 
is spoken. Great and good men, who abhor the 
folly of socialism, do not scruple to assert that 
the true theory of all governments is, that they 
are an abridgment of original and natural rights ; 
forgetful of the fact that it is from the fountain of 
socialism that they draw their original supply of 
ideas. Those of the republican type maintain 
that the government should be founded upon the 
concessions of the majority, and that any thing else 
is tyranny. I propose to deal with this idea in a 
future lecture. I now only consider the dogma 
in the literal sense — the form in which it exists 
in popular thought. 

Literally, what is the state of man by nature ? 
and. Is he free and equal in that state ? We can 
conceive of man as existing only in one or the 
other of two states ; one of which is his natural 
state, and the other merely hypothetical : that is, 
the simple, or individual state, and the complex, or 
social state. To conceive of men in their simple 
state, or as not in a state of society^ is to conceive 



68 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

of them as existing as mere individuals : that is, 
tmfJioiit connection or relation one with the other. Is 
this the natural state of man — the state intended 
for him by nature? Certainly not. It is not 
known to history, any more than to us, that any 
set of men ever existed in this way. This, then, 
is a merely hypothetical state. In reality, there 
never was such a state of things, and never will 
he. Indeed, on the hypothesis that such was 
the original state of men by nature, or as intended 
by the Lord, it would foUow as a mere truism 
that each one of those separate individuals was 
free from control by any one or all of the others : 
that is, they were all free and equal. That this 
truism expresses the truth of the case, no doubt 
exists in the thought of a great many ; but they 
overlook the hypothesis which makes it a hypo- 
thetical truism, merely because it never had any 
existence in fact, and never can have. 

To conceive of men in the social state is to con- 
ceive of them in their relations to each other. 
Hence it is a complex state. Several ideas enter 
into this state — not only individuahty, as in the 
former case, but also contiguity of time and place, 
variety, and often contrariety of relations, together 
with all the ideas which, as sequences, grow out 
of these. Now, a leading idea involved in this 
state, and inseparable from it, is the idea of gov- 



OF SLAVERY. 69 

ernment : that is, the i'>ol'dical\^ inseparable from 
the social state. These various and conflicting 
relations must be defined by certain rules, carry- 
ing the full idea of control. Without this, these 
relations could not operate in harmonious agree- 
ment for a single day. Now, as the natural state 
of man is the state for which he was made, — the 
state to which alone his entire nature is adapted, 
— there can be no dispute, the social state is the 
natural state of man. "And the Lord God said, 
It is not good that the man should be alone : I will 
make him an helpmeet for him." He w^as made, 
then, for society, and society was immediately 
furnished him. But the lavj of relation, we find, 
was coincident with the relation itself : " There- 
fore shall a man leave his father and his mother, 
and shall cleave unto his wife." Gen. ii. 24. And 
so also, every one born into the w^orld was born 
in a state of society — the social state — and has 
always existed in this state : that is, under govern- 
ment. But we have before proved that a state of 
slavery is fundamental in the complex idea of gov- 
ernment. There is, there can be, no government 
vjithoid it. Therefore, the natural state of man, or 
the state to which he is adapted by both his mental 
and physical constitution, is a state of slavery in 
combination with liberty, vjJiich is the complex idea 
of government. 



70 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

4. " The relation which men sustain to each 
other is the relation of equality : not equality of 
condition^ but equality of rights 

This is the form in which Dr. Wayland prefers 
to express the doctrine of equality.* He explains 
himself thus : " Each separate individual is created 
with precisely the same right to use the advan- 
tages with which God has endowed him as any 
other individual." From this position^ as thus 
explained, he deduces an argument the force of 
which, without expressing it in so many words, is 
constructively made to pervade the whole perform- 
ance. For his whole argument may be embodied 
thus : the government which places an individual 
in any other condition than that of political equal- 
ity is an odious tyranny : the government which 
establishes domestic slavery does this, and is 
therefore an odious tyranny. 

Now, the proposition, as he explains it, may be 
admitted as a truism ; but then the doctrine of 
essential equality of right w^ill not follow from 
such an admission : that is, social and political 
equality. For what if it be true that "each« 
separate individual has precisely the same right 
to use the advantages with which God has en- 
dowed him T It only follows that each one has a 

* Moral Science. Part II., Division I — Reciprocity. ^ 



OF SLAVERY. 71 

common right in this respect merely, but not that 
there is an essential equality of right in any 
available sense in which we are accustomed to 
understand the phrase. For if so, it will follow 
that brutes have an essential equcdity of rights 
with men, and that both men and brutes have an 
essential equality of rights with angels. This is 
not pushing the argument too far in either direc- 
tion. For brutes, in a sense well defined by Dr. 
Way land himself, have rights. No one but a 
moral brute would deny the right of his fellow- 
creature — the brute — to appropriate an accessible 
bucket of refreshing water to slake his burning 
thirst. Nothing is more certain than that brutes, 
men, and angels have a common right to appropri- 
ate the advantages Avith which God has endowed 
them. Brutes could not have lower, and angels 
could not have higher, rights in this respect. But 
surely it cannot be said that this common right 
confers on brutes, men, and angels, essential 
equality of rights in any practical sense what- 
ever ; for then it will follow that brutes, men, 
and angels have an equal right to social and poli- 
tical equality — a bold and reckless absurdity. 

We admit that one man has a common right 
with each and all other men in the respect stated ; 
but not that they have common rights in other 
respects. The common right to use our '^advan- 



72 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

tages to promote our happiness^ will not constitute 
us equals in any proper sense, unless our advan- 
tages be equal. Now, Dr. Waylancl himself allows, 
in the very terms of his proposition, that men are 
not equal in condition — that is, not equal in advan- 
tages. And nothing is more obvious than that 
men are not equal in that intellectual and moral 
condition which would enable them to use certain 
social and political advantages for the benefit of 
themselves and others : consequently, upon his 
own admission, they would have no right to them. 
Unless, then, it can be shown that God has en- 
dowed all human beings with intellectual and 
moral capacities sufficiently developed to enable 
them to be used for the common welfare, they 
have no right to what we call political freedom. 
But it is unquestionable that men are not univers- 
ally nor even generally so endowed. It is not 
the case with minors. Political freedom is with- 
held from them by the laws of all States, for the 
obvious reason that it is not among the privileges 
which God, as yet, endowed them with the ability 
to use for the common welfare. Still, no one, so 
far as we ai^e aware, ever dreamed that minors 
were herein abridged of their natural rights, and 
that government and parents were " odious tyrants' 
because they subjected them to one of the known 
forms of domestic slavery ! We are not surprised, 



OF SLAVERY. 73 

therefore, that Dr. Wayland found himself com- 
pelled to admit that minors were exceptions to his 
rule ; which, however, he had argued as univer- 
sal — universals admit of no exceptions. 

Again, it is not true of barbarians, through any 
of the stages of barbarism. At no period are they 
in that state of intellectual and moral development 
in which they could use for the common welfare 
the blessings of civil freedom, as understood and 
enjoyed by a highly civilized people. If they 
were, they would not be barbarians, but a civilized 
people, to whom the right of civilization — pohtical 
freedom — would inure. 

Now I assume here, what I shall prove in a 
future lecture, that the African came into this 
country in a state of extreme barbarism ; and that, 
in the judgment of Southern people — whom preju- 
dice itself can hardly deny are honest and the only 
competent judges in this matter — they are still, 
as a race, in a state of semi-barbarism, to say the 
least. If we are right in this position, they also 
are an example of persons who are clearly not 
entitled to the rights which inure only to a state 
of civilization. With what propriety, therefore, 
could any decent man, whose object is not to in- 
sult, af&rm that we are "odious tyrants," for 
withholding from the African the rights which are 
appropriate only to a state of civilization : unless 
4 



74 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

he were prepared first to show that we are 
wrong in our position as to the question of fact, 
that they are still in a state of semi-barbarism^ and, 
therefore, not entitled to civil freedom ? 

How shall we characterize the course of Dr. 
Waj^land ! After drawing an ingenious argument 
through many pages of his performance : appeal- 
ing to the facts and principles of Holy Scripture : 
not faihng, in the progress and application of his 
false position, to stigmatize the system of African 
slavery as an odious tyranny, and this for the 
obvious purpose of degi'ading the Southern States 
of this Union in the eyes of the whole civilized 
world : then, when he is confronted, as he neces- 
sarily was, in the progress of his own argument, 
by the only material fact in the whole discussion, 
he adroitly evades all consideration of it whatever ! 
On page 216, fourth edition, he states the position 
of the South, that the " slaves are not competent to 
self-government," and shortly replies, " This is a 
question of fact which it is not the province of 
Moral Philosophy to decide." Why then did he 
decide it by an application of his false position to 
the South ? Echo answers. Why ? 

Had he confined the application of his principles 
to the rights which belong to a civilized people, 
we should have no cause to complain ; or had he 
adduced facts to invalidate the position of the 



OF SLAVERY. ^ 75 

South in regard to its African population, we 
should be bound to regard him as maintaining an 
honoi'able discussion ; or, yielding this point, had 
he attempted to define that form of government 
most appropriate to a mass of semi-barbarians, 
dwelling in the-midst of a highly civilized people, 
with whom they could not amalgamate ; or, de- 
chning this, had he frankly confessed his incom- 
petency (as indeed will really appear upon a dis- 
cussion of his basis principle) to do justice to the 
subject of Moral Philosophy at this point at least 
— in either case we should be bound to respect his 
effort. But departing, as he evidently does, from 
all these obvious lines of duty in the pathway of 
his desolating errors, and inflicting so deep a 
wound upon the feelings of the whole Southern 
community, it must be allowed that our charity is 
heavily taxed in accounting for his course. He 
can have no cause to complain that we adopt the 
opinion that he has permitted an early prejudice 
to grow into a feeling of fanaticism, so fixed as to 
warp his judgment on points of very simple apph- 
cation in Moral Science. 

Dr. Wayland's treatise is a text-book in many 
of our literary institutions, and he himself is emi- 
nently distinguished both in the rehgious and lite- 
rary world. Such a text-book, thus endorsed by 
both piety and learning, put into the hands of our 



76 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

young men, could rarely fail of its object — espe- 
cially if the professor concur in enforcing its doc- 
trines. This is frequently the case in Northern 
institutions, and has often occurred in Southern; 
and where it has not, the professor, as a general 
thing, is either silent, or he concedes the doctrines 
of the text, and rests the defence of the South 
upon the false position, that " she cannot help her- 
self !" The assumption that God has placed men 
in circumstances in which they cannot avoid a 
violation of his own immutable principles of right, 
may be so entirely overlooked, as to leave the 
doctrines and arguments of the text to work an 
increasing conviction that there is moral wrong in 
African slavery. If this state of things continue, 
we must not be surprised if abolition fanaticism 
should have a still more rapid growth in our land. 



OP SLAVEBY. 77 



LECTURE IV. 

THE QUESTION OF RIGHTS DISCUSSED. 

Why it is necessary to define the term rights — The right in 
itself defined to be the good — The doctrine that the will of God 
is the origin of the right considered — The Trill of God not the 
origin of the right, hut an expression of the right which is the 
good — Natural rights and acquired rights, each defined. 

There are questions which lie back of this dis- 
cussion — errors, as I think, which underlie the 
popular ideas of both government and rights. We 
should not consider that we had fully met the 
difficulties of the subject if we passed them bv. 

Domestic slavery, it is said, is an abridgment 
of inalienable rights ; and legitimate government 
is a voluntary concession of certain alienable 
rights. 

Natural rights are, of course, such as are inher- 
ent in the constitution of man : inalienable, because 
in point of fact he cannot be substantively deprived 
of them. The law which in any case provides to 



78 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

do this, treats him as though he were not a rational, 
but a mere sentient being — and therein alienates 
his rights. Domestic slavery is said to treat the 
slave as a mere chattel, a thing, not an entity, and 
hence deprives him by provision of law of the 
right of being treated as a rational being as he is, 
and not a mere thing. This is said, because it 
j)laces his time and labor at the disposal of another 
man. How far this reproach is just, turns upon a 
definite answer to the question — What are rights ? 
'• Government is a voliintari/ concession of certain 
alienable rights'' If this concession be made by 
the majority of the citizens, the government is 
called repubhcan; if otherwise, it is called despotic. 
In this theory of government, certain rights are 
assumed to be given up, in order to secure other 
and more important rights. I have shown govern- 
ment to embody, of necessity, two great abstract 
principles in liarmonious operation — though, in 
their essential nature, the one antagonizes the 
other. Now the principle of slavery — control hy 
the tvill of another — certainly operates an abridg- 
ment of the exercise of self-control^ which is the 
principle of liberty. And so far as the principle 
of slavery operates, in any given instance of gov- 
ernment, is that, in such instance, a giving up, to 
that extent, of the right of self-control^ in order to 
secure a right to the self-control which remains 



OF SLAVERY. iU 

angiven np ? Is this so ? This question also 
turn upon the solution of that other cjuestion — 
What are rights ? 

And again, sdf-conirol, we say, is the principle 
of liberty. Practical freedom is the exercise of 
the right of self-control. How far does the right 
of self-control extend ? I say that an instiuice in 
which a body of men emerged from a state of 
nature, (so called.) and formed a government by 
an original act, is unknown to history. It never 
occurred. Man v/as placed originally by Jehovah 
himself under political law. The very moment 
that he placed the first being in a relation to 
another by giving him a " helpmeet^' he gave him 
a law to govern that relation, as we have seen ; 
and all the subsequent acts of men m the matter 
of government-making, have been such modifica- 
tions of the existing form of government as they 
supposed would better suit their circumstances. 
But it is said that w^hen society meets in conven- 
tion to agree upon certain principles called a con- 
stitution, under which the laws shall be made, 
men do virtuall}^, for the time being, resolve them- 
selves into their original position or state without 
government ; and that the constitution so formed 
is virtually an original formation. Well, for the 
sake of the argument, let it be so. When, there- 
fore, society thus falls back upon its original 



80 P H I L S P H Y A N D PRACTICE 

position^ men stand upon the basis of what are 
supposed their original rights I What is that ? 
Why, the right that each man has to do as he 
may please. They form a government : that is, 
give up a part, more or less, of their original rigM, 
Of course a part remains ungiven up, and the giv- 
ing up cannot be to secure the possession of that 
which is akeady in possession ! What is it that 
invests these questions with difficulty ? Is it not 
the ambiguity of the term rights ? Let us then 
define rights, if we would not be for ever entoiled 
by these absurdities. 

And still again : Is liberty the right of self- 
control? Is not man — accountable man — free in 
virtue of his very humanity ? Does tliis freedom 
imply absolute liberty ? If so, absolute liberty is 
inherent m his very constitution — it is inalienable. 
What right, then, can he have to give it up, or 
any part of it ? If so, he has the right to do that 
wdiich subjectively he cannot do. If, then, govern- 
ment be a concession of the right of self-control 
in this sense, it is the concession of an inalienable 
right, and should be abandoned as a piece of io\\.Y. 

It is entirely obvious, therefore, that we can- 
not advance in these inquiries at aU v/ithout 
first settling the question, What are rights? 

The English language is allowed to be one of 
great power, compass, and accuracy, and therefore 



OF SLAVERY. 81 

eminently adapted to reasoning. It derives this 
quality in a good degree from its flexibilit}^, the 
different varieties of idea^ and often the different 
shades of meaning in these varieties that may be 
expressed by one word. No language is supposed 
to compare with it in this respect. But whilst 
this adapts it to the purpose of correct reasoning, 
it opens also a wide field for errors in argument. 
Men usually differ widely in ojnnion^ but they do 
not often differ in sentiment. All intelligent and 
good men feel right, and mean rigid. They often 
differ in opinion because they differ in the mean- 
ing they attach to the language, the same 
language, which is the medium through which 
each views the same subject. Different men use 
the same word in different senses. The same 
man often uses the same word by habit in differ- 
ent senses in the same connection. They come 
to different conclusions, of course, and the same 
man often entoils himself by his own argument. 
Now, there are few words with which men have 
more to do in discussions and opinions about 
liberty and government — the next most important 
matters to personal religion — than with the word 
rights; and there are few words which are capable 
of more varied application, and which are in truth 
oftener applied to express different shades of 

meaning, than this word rights. Webster gives 
4* 



82 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

correctly some forty different meanings of this 
term, together ^vith several subordinate senses in 
Avhich it occurs, all of which are in common use. 
Our language — and of what language is not the 
same true ? — our hterature, our theology, our poli- 
tics — society on all sides — is bristling with rights! 
Now, is it not obvious that there must be some 
generic idea which classifies all the different mean- 
ings and applications of this term, and which has 
its foundation in the common sense, the common 
reason of all mankind ? 

If, then, we inquire what are our rights in any 
given case, this question directly involves that 
other and ultimate question, What is the right in 
itself? the solution of wdiich solves at once the 
general question in regard to all cases. And al- 
though the case in which our rights may appear 
must be first, in point of time before our minds, to 
call up our idea of the rights still our definite ante- 
cedent idea of the right is the logical condition on 
which we determine w^hether the right appears in 
that case. 

Call then, to your mind, an instance of justice, 
and one of injustice : a case of virtue and a case 
of crime : an example of heroism and an example 
of weakness : does not each of these cases em- 
body, the one class your idea of the 7ig]Lt in itself, 
and the other your idea of the turong in itself? 



OF SLAVERY. 83 

But your conception of the cases in which your 
antecedent idea of the rigJit and the wi^ong ap- 
pears, and your antecedent idea of that right and 
of that tvrong, are very different ideas : that is, the 
case itself and your idea of the principle are dis- 
tinct : the one a thing, the other an idea of some- 
thing real. What, then, is your idea of the 7'ight, 
which is so distinct in your mind from the case in 
which it appears ? Interrogate your reason and 
consciousness. Interrogate the reason and con- 
sciousness of all marddnd. 

Take this example : "The father of Cains To- 
rajiiiis had been proscribed by the triumvirate. 
Cains Tora7iiits, coming over to the interest of that 
party, discovered to the officers who were in pur- 
suit of his father the place where he concealed 
himself, and gave withal a description hy which 
they might distinguish his person when thoy 
found him. The old man, more anxious for the 
safety and fortunes of his son than about the little 
that might remain of his own life, began immedi- 
ately to inquire of the officers who seized him, 
whether his son were well, whether he had done 
his duty to the satisfaction of the generals. 'That 
son,' replied one of the officers, ' so dear to thy 
affections, betrayed thee to us : by his informa- 
tion thou art apprehended, and diest.' The officer, 
with this, struck a poniard to his heart, and the 



84 PHILOSOPHY AXU PRACTICE 

unhiii^py parent feil^ not so much afiected by his 
fate as by the means to which he owed it.""^' 
Here is an example of the greatest filial impiety, 
and of the highest parental affection. The one 
fulfils our idea of the right, the other our idea of 
the vjTong. Now, what is this idea of the right 
and the wrong in which all are supposed to agree ? 
We would not ask, with the disciple of Pale}^, of 
Condillac, or of Helvetius, what the "wild boy, 
caught years ago in the woods of Hanover," would 
have thought of this case ; nor v/hat the savage, 
without experience and without instruction, cut 
off in his infancy from all intercourse with his 
species, would think of it. No : " the savage state 
offers us humanity in swaddling-clothes, so to 
speak — the germ of humanity, but not humanity 
entire. The true man is the perfect man of his 
kind : true human nature is human nature arrived 
at its developnient."f We utterly deny that, in 
order to arrive at the judgment of human nature, 
we need consult a savage in such circumstances, 
or indeed to consult a savage at all. And yet we 
say that even a savage of good mind, who has 
lived long enough in society to get the idea of the 
relation of parent and child — such as even savages 
have — would pronounce the conduct of the one to 

* Paley's Philosophy. — Moral Science. f M. Cousin. 



OF SLAVEllY. 85 

De right, and of the other to be wrong, and haA^e a 
definite idea of that right and that turong, each in 
itself. And we furthermore say, that human 
nature cultivated to the highest degree hears the 
same testimony to the difference in the conduct 
of this father and this son, and attaches essentially 
the same ideas to that difference. In calling the 
one right and the other lurong, men say, and they 
mean to say, that the one is good and the other is 
evil. This is the uniform judgment of human 
reason — the permanent belief of mankind. To 
this common sense bears ample testimony. Gram- 
marians have not invented languages. Govern- 
ment itself dates back of legislators — they have 
only modified it. Philosophers have not invented 
beliefs : without concert, without conventions, the 
world has fallen upon certain behefs, and certain 
signs to express these beliefs. In the secret 
chambers of the soul, not of any one individual 
man, but of all men individually, consciousness 
bears testimony that such and such is the behef 
of all men, and this we call the judgment of com- 
mon sense ; and such is also her testimony in all 
languages as to the thing that is rigid, and that 
the 7nght in any given case is the idea we have of 
the good in that case. The right, then, is the good. 
" Right, rectus',' says Webster, ^- straightness, 
rectitude ;" which he explains to be conformity to 



86 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

rule or law, and that the tvill of God is the ulti- 
Qiate rule or law which determines the i^igJit or 
the ivrong in all cases. Hence conformity to this 
rule is the generic idea of the right in itself, ac- 
cording to Webster. In this view. Home Tooke, 
in his Diversions of Purley, concurs. As his 
criticism is ingenious, instructive, and generally 
truthful, I quote the more material portion of his 
article on rights. After telling us in his dialogue 
that Johnson only informs us that rigid is not 
ivrong^ and ivrong is not rights he adds : 

" H. Right is no other than RECT^i;?^, {regetum,) 
the past participle of the Latin verb regere, etc. 

'' In the same manner, our English word just is 
the past particijole of the verb juhere. 

" Decree, Edict, Statute, Institute, Maxdate, 
Precept, are all past participles. 

" F. What then is law ? 

" H. It is merely the past tense and past parti- 
ciple of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb which 
means something or any thing laid down as a rule 
of conduct. Thus when a man demands his right, 
he asks only that which it is ordered he shall 
have. A right conduct is that which is ordered : 
a RIGHT reckoning is that which is ordered : a right 
line is that which is ordered or directed, (not a ran- 
dom extension, but) the shortest between two 
points : the right road is that ordered to be passed 



OF SLAVERY. 87 

(for the object you have in view :) to do right is 
to clo that which is ordered to be done : to be in 
the RIGHT is to be in such situation or circum- 
stances as are ordered : to have right or law on 
one's side is to have in one's favor that which is 
ordered or laid down : a right and just action is 
such an one as is ordered and commanded : a just 
man is such as he is commanded to be — qid leges 
juraqiie served — who observes and obeys the 
things laid down or commanded ; and the right 
hand is that which custom and those who have 
brought us up have ordered or directed us to use 
in preference, when one hand only is employed ; 
and the left hand is that which is leaved, left, or 
wdiich we are taught to leave out of use on such 
occasions. So that left, you see, is also a past 
participle. 

" F. Every thing, then, that is ordered and com- 
manded is right and just ? 

^^ II. Surely ; for that is only affirming that 
w^hat is ordered and commanded^ is ordered and 
commanded. 

" F. Now wdiat becomes of your vaunted rights 
of man ? According to you, the chief merit of man 
is obedience ; and whatever is ordered and com- 
manded is right and just. This is pretty well for 
a democrat. And those have always been your 
sentiments ? 



88 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

" H. Always ; and those sentiments confirm my 
democracy. 

^^'F. Those sentiments do not appear to have 
made you very conspicuous for obedience. There 
are not a few passages, I beheve, in your life, 
wdiere you have opposed what was ordered and 
commanded. Upon your principles, w^as that right ? 

"H. Perfectly. 

" F. How now ! Was it ordered and commanded 
that you should oppose what was ordered and com- 
manded! Can the same thing be at the same 
time both right and wrong ? 

" H. Travel back to Melinda, and you will find 
the difficulty easily solved." (The people of 
Melinda are all left-handed^ i. e., ilieir light is our 
left. But they are as ?7^/^^handed as we are ; for 
they use that hand in preference which is ordered 
by their custom, and is therefore their right hand^ 
and leave out of employ the other, which is, there- 
fore, their left hand.) "A thing may be at the 
same time both right and wrong, as well as right 
and left. It may be commanded to be done and 
comr.ianded not to be done. The law — that which 
is laid dotun — may be different by different autho- 
rities. 

" I have always been most obedient when most 
taxed with disobedience. But my right hand is 
not the right hand of Melinda. The right 1 



OF SLAVERY. 89 

revere is not the right ordered by sycophants : the 
juB vagum, the capricious command of princes or 
ministers. I follow the law of God, (what is laid 
dotun by him for the rule of my conduct,) when I 
follow the laws of human nature : which without 
any human testimony we know must proceed from 
God ; and upon these are founded the rights of 
man, or what is ordered for man. I revere the 
constitution and constitutional laws of England, 
because they are in conformity Avith the laws of 
God and ncdure; and upon these are founded the 
rational rights of Enghshmen. If princes, or 
ministers, or the corrupt sham-representatives of 
the people, order, command, or lay doivn any thing- 
contrary to that which is ordered, commanded, or 
laid down by God, human nature, or the constitu- 
tion of this government, I will still hold fast by 
the higher authorities. If the meaner authorities 
are offended, they can only destroy the body of 
the individual, but never can affect the right, or 
that which is ordered by their superiors. "'•' 

Thus he is found to agree with Webster, that 
the ivill of God is the ultimate genus of the right. 
That is right, which conforms to the v^^ill of God 
as laid dotun in laiv — whether that law be a turitten 
revelation, nature, or the customs of society, (as in 

* See his whole article on Rio;hts. 



90 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the case of the 7^)gM and left hand.) as the exponent 
of that will — they are what is ordered in the case, 
and make the right. Hence he condemns as 
^* wretched mummery" the distinction admitted, 
by M. Portahs, between obedience to a command, 
and obedience to what is right and just in itsehf, 
and, on the same ground, pronounces it "highly 
improper" to say, with Mr. Locke, '^ God has a 
right to do it : we are his creatures." For truly 
if his will be the ultimate genus of right, then he 
can have no rights, for there is certainly no supe- 
rior to whose commands he conforms in the acts of 
his will. But precisely at this point let us take 
our stand. I affirm on the authority of Scripture, 
no less than sound philosophy, (alwaj's in har- 
mony,) that God Jms rights, and that the distinc- 
tion of M. Portalis is in many instances correct ; 
and that hence Tooke, Dr. Paley, (who also con- 
curs in this view — see his article Rights, in his 
Moral Philosophy,) Dr. Webster, with many 
others of great distinction, strangely err, not in 
their etymology of this word, but in th;it hypo- 
thesis by which they make it a siguificate of the 
tviil of God. We cannot agree Avith them that 
rights and duties which are reciprocal, are resolv- 
able Old}' into the will of God — have his will alone 
for their ultimate foundation. I take ground back 
of this. True, I say with them — and I claim full 



OF SLAVERY. ' 91 

credit in the declaration — that the volitions, the 
acts of God, are always right ; but I do not say 
that his will makes the essential or true distinc- 
tion between 7'ight and ivrong. We dare not as- 
sume that God, could, by an act of voKtion, make 
the right to be the tirong, and the ivrong to be the 
rigid — good evil, and evil good ! It is absurd to 
assume that God can do things that are in them- 
selves 'contradictory. Omnipotent, we know, he 
is ; but such things are not the objects of powder, 
any more than things which are the objects of 
power, are, in the same sense, the objects of 
Omniscience. To affirm that he could make the 
right to be the w^rong, is as false as it would be 
impious to affirm that he would do it, if he could — 
false, because, if he can, he has not deposited 
the truth in that great master-work of his hand, 
the mind of man ; for, by the power of the intui- 
tion he has given us, we are assured that the idea 
is in itself a gross absurdity. And if this be not 
decisive of the question, then neither intuition nor 
the deductions of intuition are of any authority. 
Man is the victim of a false guide wdthin ! He 
may ''' eat and drink, for to-morrow he dies !" 
There Vv^ill be no more of him ; or, what is worse, 
he is but a link in a chain of sentient beings who 
are governed by a cruel fate, which regards not 
the distinctions of right and ivrong ; and he may 



92 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

be the sport of wickedness in the world to come, 
as he lias been the victim of deception in this ! I 
think it more than error to reason thus ! I think 
it profane ! 

We may take ground back of this — ground as 
honorable to God as it is exalting to man and 
encouraging to his hopes. It is true, that both 
rectitude and duty, together with liberty, are 
resolvable into the essential good. Or, in other 
words, freedom^ rectitude^ and duty are the modes 
of thought in which we conceive of the good as 
existing in the soul of man, and that they are, 
each of them, in their distinct nature and harmoni- 
ous union, the true ideal of the good — the modes 
of thought, also, in which the intuition of man per- 
ceives the good in the case of every moral action 
which is good. And concerning the good in itself, 
which is thus in an humble degree perceived by 
us, it is certainly a reahty Avhich is immutable and 
eternal. God did not make it — nor was it made. 
It is of the essential nature of God, and eternal. 
He is the great impersonation of the good. His 
will, his volitions, in all cases, are but the expres- 
sions of this high attribute. His will, therefore, 
always conforming to the essential good, is a per- 
fect rule of what is right in itself, and proper to 
be observed by us, as a rule of duty or conduct. 
Such a rule, it will be seen, is eminently adapted to 



OF SLAVERY. 93 

the wants of humanity ; l3ut, at the same time, his 
will and the good are different realities. The one 
is an essential (_[uanty of his holy nature, and the 
other is, to a certain extent, an expression of this 
attribute in the form of volitions. That the will 
of God did not make the right in itself, will readily 
appear. Is it to be conceived that there ever was 
a period in eternity past, when truth was not 
truth, or when truth did not exist ? when tlie good 
was not the good^ or when the good did not exist ? 
But does it not accord with the clearest teachings 
of reason, that the truth always was the truth, 
and ever will be the truth ? that the good always 
will be the good ? That two and two are equal to 
four ; that to affirm a thing to be and not to be 
at the same time is an absurdity and a contradic- 
tion ; and that things equal to one and the same 
thing are equal to one another, we say are all in- 
tuitive truths — we cannot be mistaken about 
them. So also in morals : that the truth is good ; 
that virtue is good ; that a good action is not an 
evil action ; and that to affirm that a good action 
is not a good action is an absurdity, a contradic- 
tion, we say, are all intuitions — we cannot he mis- 
taken ahoiit them. But is it not equally intuitive 
that these things were always so — that these 
truths were always truths — the good was always 
the good, just as certainly as that they are so 



94 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

now ? Then the eternit?/ of these things is just as 
certainly an intuition, as that they exist now is an 
intuition. Hence the eternity of God, who is the 
great impersonation of this high quahty, or whose 
attribute it is, is an intuitive truth. Hence his 
will did not make it, for it is absurd to say that 
he made himself. His will, therefore, Avhich, in 
giA^en cases, is his volition, is but the expression 
of this essential quality of his holy nature. Hence 
his will is a rule of right, because in all cases it 
conforms to the good, but it did not make the 
good. 

Therefore the pjght, as it conforms to the essen- 
tial GOOD, is of the nature of the good. It is pro- 
perly a significate of the good, and not a significate 
of the tuill of God. Things agreeing with one and 
the same thing agree with each other. Hence it 
coincides with the will of God. But such coin- 
cidence does not constitute any thing right in 
itself; but it is because, like the will of God, it 
conforms to, or is of the. nature of, the essential 
good, that it is right. The right then, in itself, is 
the good. The good is the true generic idea which' 
classifies all the different applications of this term. 
So far as any thing is of the nature of the good, it 
is in itself right. So far as any thing, to which 
the idea of the right applies, is negative of the 
good, i. e., is evil, it is wrong. 



OFSLAVERY. ' 95 

The GOOD, therefore, as an ultimate gemis, is 
much more extensive in meaning than the right. 
It extends to all phjskal as well as moral good. 
Our subject requires us to consider it only so flir 
as it apphes to humanity. And how far is this ? 
When Jehovah created man, he pronounced him to 
be ^* very good," i. e., essentially good in the attri- 
butes of his nature. He was created in " his own 
image : in the image of God created he him." 
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of 
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life ; and man became a living soldi' 
That is, he was created a pure spiritual intelH- 
gence. He had a clear and correct perception and 
judgment of pure abstract truth, and of the rela- 
tions of truth ; w^ith the corresponding feelings of 
obligation to duty, and a power of will sufficient 
to control the mental states within the sphere of 
its operations. Now, as a pure intelligence, thus 
endowed, he is within the limits of his capacity a 
cause within himself — strictly a self-acting agent, 
and hence accountable. And as he was created 
with a feeling of obligation to observe the good as 
a rule in all his conduct, he w^as created a subject 
of duty — he was under obligation to do, to act ; 
and as in each of these respects, and in all others, 
he was created in conformity with the essential 
good, he was rectus, right. All this is implied in 



96 PHILOSOPHY A In I) P II A C T I C E 

that declaration of his essential nature, as a pure 
spiritual intelligence, (who was therein made in 
the image of God,) wdiich defined him to be " very 
goody Nor can we think of this good as a quality 
or attribute of humanity, without being conscious, 
if we reflect closely, of associating in our minds 
the idea that the being who personates iL is for 
that reason free; that for that reason he is rectus, 
straight, conformed to the good as the rule, that 
is, right; and that for the same reason he is under 
obligation — it is his didy to act according to that 
rule. Every instance of moral action that is good 
implies these ideas : it is free, it is rectus, straight, 
and it is done in accordance with duty. In the 
same sense in wdiich life, sense, and motion enter 
into and so form the comprehension of the crea- 
ture, animal; so liberty, rectitude, and duty form 
the comprehension of moral good, so flir as it 
applies to humanity. These are distinct ideas. 
Still they coincide, and either implies the others as 
correlatives. Hence we say of a free action that 
\i is good, implying that it is at the same time 
rectus, and done in accordance with duty ; and of 
an action in conformity to a proper rule, that it is 
good, implying at the same time that it v^ free, and 
done in accordance with duty ; and also of an 
action in compliance with duty, that it is good, 
implying that it is also free, and straight, i. e., 



OF SLAVERY. 97 

conformed to rule : thus in each case we imply the 
correlative ideas. 

Now, Avhatever is in my possession by natural 
endowment is mine, in the strictest sense. Hence, 
freedom is. mine, duti/ is mine, and rectitude is 
mine, because the good is mine, and those are the 
elements of the good, each one implying the 
others. 

Hence arises the idea of iiaturcd right : that is, 
the right with which I am endowed by the consti- 
tution of my nature as a rational being. But 
what is that right ? Evidently, the good. The 
good as an attribute is in my possession. I am 
constituted with it and by it. Hence it is inalien- 
able. Divest me of the iiood as an attribute of 
my nature, i. e., liberty, rectitude, and duty, and 
I sink at once in the scale of being : I cease alto- 
gether to be a rational or accountable being. 

Let no one imagine that this position conflicts 
with the well-known fact that man is a fallen 
being. For although fallen, he is still account- 
able. True, his moral nature is in ruins, but still 
it is a moral nature. Thouoh disordered, it is not 
eradicated. Hence the restoration by grace is 
called a conversion ; but if the essential moral 
nature of man had been destroyed by the fall, and 
an attribute of essential evil had taken the place 
of it, his restoration could not be called, as it is, a 
5 



98 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

change, but should be called in the strictest sense 
an original creation. Hence, although man is 
fallen, depraved — and we need not object to the 
strong terms in which this depravity is usually 
expressed — still we find that the sentiment of all 
mankind is on the side of virtue, on the side of 
the good ; and that men, though unchanged by 
sovereign grace, are still required to be honest, 
gentlemanly, and in all things regardful of each 
other's rights. We admit of exceptions or modi- 
fications of this only in the case of those in whom 
humanity has not been fully developed, as before 
noticed, and those in civihzed life who have so far 
abused their moral nature as, in the lan2:uao;e of 
Paul, to fit themselves for destruction. There- 
fore, it still remains that the good in the form of 
rectitude, 7nght, is in some modification an endow- 
ment of my nature : the right, in itself, is mine 
by nature. 

But the good, as an attribute, is an active prin- 
ciple. We were endowed with it for the purpose 
of movement — for results. It is my duty to act 
fight — straight, or in accordance with the good as 
a rule. Hence, whatever is a necessary condition 
of the operation of this active principle, the essen- 
tial good, is in itself a good which is either in my 
possession, and hence is mine by possession ; or 
it ought to be in my possession, and hence is mine 



OF SLAVERY. 99 

by just title. Hence, to breathe, under all cir- 
cumstances, together Avith all physical motion and 
the sustenance of the body, which involves the 
right of property to a certain extent, each in given 
circumstances, is the natural right of every one. 
So also the right of the embryo-man, the idiot, 
the imbecile, the uncivihzed, or the savage, to 
protection and defence, is a natural right ; and for 
the same reason, to be protected and defended 
from certain helpless conditions by others, is the 
natural right of every one in all states of human- 
ity. Because each of these, and of all similar 
things, is in itself good, being a necessary condition 
of the operation of the essential good, and is either 
in our possession or ought to be in our possession ; 
each one is also a natural rigld^ the good that is 
or ought to be in our possession. 

But there are acquired rights. 

It is the didg of man to act, from the very fact 
that he is endowed with the attribute of the good, 
which envelops the idea of duty. He also has 
jJoiver to act from the very same natural constitu- 
tion. Now, if he use this poiver as duty and rec- 
titude indicate that he should do, all nature 
teaches, what the Bible confirms, that he will 
glorify God, i. e., exemplify his goodness, and 
therein promote his own happiness and the happi- 
ness of those with whom he is associated; or, in 



100 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

other Avords, he will secure for himself and confer 
upon his fellows eminent benefits resulting from 
the performance of his duty. Now, wdiatever re- 
sults to him in this w^ay is certainly his by pos- 
session, or by DiA'ine grant, as much so as any 
nhinvsil rif/ht; but these henefits, being of the nature 
of the essential good, (for the reason that they are 
henefits^ are in themselves right,) result to him in 
the performance of his duty, and therefore are his 
riglds. But the acquisition is made to depend 
upon the exercise of his arhitrarij volition. If he 
use this in pursuance of duty, they follow. If he 
use it in violation of duty, they do not follow. 
Hence, if he realize them at all, either by posses- 
sion or by title, they are acquired, and therefore 
are acquired rights or benefits. 

Therefore, acquired rights may be defined, such 
good, in the form of benefits or privileges, as results 
from the performance of duty. Logically, they 
belong to the class of the essential good called 
benefits or privileges, w^ith the ^'' essential differ- 
ence' that they are such as result from the per- 
formance of duty. Any other result, though in 
itself of the nature of the essential good, yet, as it 
conferred no benefit, could not be said to be our 
right. Capital punishment, for example, when in 
accordance with the Divine will, is in itself of the 
nature of the essential good ; still, it would be an 



OF SLAVERY. 101 

abuse of language to say, in any ordinary case, 
that it was the right of the criminal to be hung ! 
because for no reason that we can imagine does 
it confer any benefit or privilege upon the criminal. 
To be acquired rights, therefore, they must not 
only be of the nature of the good — that is, actual 
benefits — but this good must result from the per- 
formance of duty, and not from the non-perform- 
ance of duty, as in the example given. 

The definition corresponds with the language of 
common sense. All men, in speaking of cases 
which are supposed to involve the question of 
eights, employ the term in this sense. You say, 
of a farmer in a given case, that he had no 
right to an abundant harvest : why ? because he 
neglected his farm: his lands were not properly 
prepared, and the growling crop was left open to 
depredations from stock : that is, he neglected his 
duty ; he had no right to the benefit of an abund- 
ant harvest. And again, you say to a neighbor. 
You should have paid a certain sum of money to 
A., in a given case. He had a right to the money, 
because he complied with the conditions on which 
the money was to be paid. He did his duty, and 
therefore had a right to the money. Thus, the 
neglect of duty negatives right in the one case, 
and the performance afiirms it in the other, ac- 
cording to the common usage of language. 



102 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

Another idea which cleriilj- enters into the com- 
mon and correct use of this term is that it is recip- 
rocal with obligation : that is, wherever there is a 
right in one person, there is a corresponding obli- 
gation, diet I/, upon others. If one man has a right 
to an estate, others are under obligation, that is, it 
is their dutg, to abstain from it. If the letting of it 
alone be the result of duty on the part of others, 
the enjoyment of it by him must also result from 
duty on his part, or the ideas do not coincide : 
that which was duty in one set of men would not 
be duty in another, in regard to the same thing, 
and in correlative circumstances. This would be 
absurd : therefore, the duty of one set of men to 
let another alone in the enjoyment of a certain 
benefit, implies the correlative idea that they 
enjoy the benefit in virtue of doing their duty. 
Hence, those benefits which are our rights result 
to us from the performance of our duty. 

The points established in this discussion are : 
1. That conformity to what is ordered or com- 
manded is not the true generic idea of the right 
in itself What is ordered or commanded can 
only interpret the right, when the command itself 
conforms to the essential good, as in the case of 
the Divine will. This is always right, because it 
so conforms, or is always an expression of the 
essential good. 



OF SLAVERY. lOB 

Hence, the good is the true generic idea of the 
right. This alone can interpret the right in any 
case. Therefore, although man, in virtue of his 
constitution as a pure intelhgence, has the povjer 
to do tvrong. he has not, and never cjin have, the 
right to do wrong. For vrrong is the negative of 
right ; and any thing, whether attribute, quality, 
opinion, doctrine, or act — every thing, vrhether 
moral or physical — to be right, must be of the 
nature of the good: all else is ivrong^ not right. 
And it further follows, that the only true subjec- 
tive right which any man has to exercise his 
power of self-control, is in doing that which is 
good, and not in doing that Avhich is evil. 

2. The natural rights of man are. 

First — The essential good in his possession by 
natural endowment, and which is therefore inalien- 
ible. And, Second — The necessary conditions, 
whatever they may be, of the operation of the 
inherent good as an active principle. Some of 
these are inalienable, and others are alienable. 
To this view of natural rights the common usage 
of language conforms. 

3. The acquired rights of man are, such good, 
in the form of benefits or privileges, as results to 
him from the performance of duty. 



104: PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE V. 

THE DOCTRINES OF RIGHTS APPLIED TO GOVERNMENT. 

Government, human as well as Divine, is a necessity of man's 
fallen condition — All men concur in this — Man did not origin- 
ate government : he has only modified the form — The legitimate 
objects of government, and the means Avhich it employs to 
efiect these objects — The logical inferences : 1. Although he 
has the power, he has no right to do wrong ; 2. As a fallen 

. being, he is, without a government over him, liable to lose the 
power of self-control — "What are the rights of man : 1. In a 
state of infancy ; 2. In a state of maturity ; and, 3. In a 
savage or uncivilized state — Civil government is not founded 
on a concession of rights. 

Philosophers, it seems to me, strangely over- 
look the tendency of man's fall to modify the ope- 
ration of the laws of mind ; and those wdio admit 
the fall still overlook this fact, that the depravity 
of man's nature w^as the result of deprivation^ and 
not the infusion of an evil principle as an attribute 
of his nature. But it is not w^ith the theology of 
this subject that we are now dealing. The fact 
that, as a fallen being, he was deprived of the im- 



OF SLAVERY. 105 

mediate presiding influence of the Divine Spirit, 
is the matter that more immediately engages our 
attention. His lower physical nature, the great 
medium of the soul's communication with the out- 
ward Avorld, and of consciousness in the embodied 
state, originally operated in perfect and harmonious 
subordination to his higher spiritual nature. In 
this condition, his appetites, propensities, and pas- 
sions presented no bar to his happiness, or to that 
of his fellows. The government or control Avhich 
his situation demanded, vre may suppose, was 
simple, and concerned chiefly his relation to the 
Deity. But when, on the great occasion of his 
trial, he exercised his power of self-action, and 
exalted this nature as a rule of moral action, in- 
stead of the essential good of his higher nature, 
of which the will of God in the given case Vvas the 
full and just exponent, there resulted a depriva- 
tion of the Divine Spirit, such as entirely changed 
the relation of those departments of his nature. 
Under the clouded condition of intellect conse- 
quent upon this deprivation, his lower nature, 
with its appetites, propensities, and passions, is 
brought into constant and fierce conflict with his 
spiritual nature. This change in the condition of 
his humanity presents his case in an aspect alto- 
gether new. The history of each individual man 
becom.es the history of a warfare — a warfare with 



106 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

himself, and a warffire with his fellows. "With a 
highly vigorous moral nature, he is also the sub- 
ject of a carnal or depraved nature. In this state 
of things, government becomes an actual necessity 
of Ms condition. The Divine government, with all 
the aids and appliances afforded by the grand 
scheme of atonement, must appeal to his passions, 
both of hope and of fear. For it is only by re- 
ducing his lower nature to its originally subordi- 
nate and harmonious position that an equilibrium 
wnll be estabhshed, and his primordial happiness 
regained. But the Divine government, though 
operating in harmony w^ith the claims of his moral 
nature, and founded upon the relation which he 
sustains to Jehovah, and indispensable to his hap- 
piness here and hereafter, of itself alone does not 
meet a great many of the immediate demands of 
his condition. Hence the statement of Solomon : 
^' Because sentence against an evil work is not 
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons 
of men is fully set in them to do evil." The con- 
sequences of obedience, high and holy as they 
are, and the consequences of disobedience, great 
and terrible as they are, are too remote from man, 
in many states of intellect and feeling in which he 
often places himself, to meet the immediate de- 
mands of his nature. Hence, that modification of 
government called civil government, is no less de- 



OF SLAVERY. , 107 

manclecl by the necessities of his condition than 
the Divine. 

Civil government deals chiefly with the relations 
of man to his fellow-man. It coincides with the 
Divine government. They each aim at the con- 
trol of the lower nature of man, and the develop- 
ment of his higher nature. The means they 
employ are the same in principle. They address 
the same passions. The rewards and punish- 
ments of the one are in this hfe, and of the other 
chiefly in the life to come. Withal, the ciA^l has 
the sanction of the Divine, and the Divine should 
always have the sanction of the civil, government. 
But still they are entirely distinct, and should not 
be confounded either in theory or in practice 
The one is secular, and the other is Divine. 

Now, we say that civil government — for of that 
we are called more particularly to speak — is a 
necessit?/ of mans condition. It dates back as early 
as the creation of man. God himself established 
it in the law he gave to govern the first relation 
that existed on earth — the relation between Adam 
and his '' helpmeet." After the fall, a necessity 
arose which gave it a new and more important 
bearing. We soon see it ramifying itself through 
all society, and dealing with all the relations of 
life. 

Its necessity and authority, as a great means of 



108 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

controlling the lower nature of man, is among the 
permanent beliefs of mankind. Neither legislators 
nor philosophers originated these beliefs. They 
are among the intuitions of man. The common 
judgment of mankind is not more assured that 
man exists, than that fallen man must be con- 
trolled in his appetites, propensities, and passions 
— the sum of what is often considered his interest 
and his happiness — by the jihi/sical poivers of gov- 
ernment. Each individual man feels that he needs 
its powerful sanctions to arm him against himself, 
when violently tempted to do wrong ; and that he 
needs its sanctions to protect him from outrage and 
wrono: from his fellow-men, when moved bv similar 
forces. The instincts of animal nature are not 
more certain in their movements than are the in- 
tuitive perceptions and spontaneous feelings of 
mankind, causing them to lean upon the strong 
arm of civil government, to control the propensi- 
ties and passions, and to promote the free exercise 
of the higher moral nature of man. 

Government is the whole society in action. 
No people was ev^r knoAvn to exist for any defi- 
nite period without government. Sometimes, it is 
true, the form has been the result of implied un- 
derstandings among the people — as when '^ there 
was no judge in Israel :" at others, a master-spirit 
has assumed the reins, and been deferred to by 



F S L AVERY. 109 

common consent ; and at others, it has been modi- 
fied by formal processes — such as conventions and 
constitutions. Be this, however, as it may, gov- 
ernment has always existed. Legislators did not 
make it. They have had much to do in modify- 
ing, directing, and often in corrupting the form ; 
but nothing to do in originating government, in 
any proper sense of the term. It sprang sponta- 
neously from the common sense of mankind. An 
agent indispensable to self-preservation was cer- 
tainly coeval with the race. 

In its true generic sense, that is, in a sense 
equally applicable to all forms, government is con- 
trol by the authority of God and the people. 
God, in his w^ord, declares the authority of tlie 
magistrate to be his ordinance ; and this accords 
with the intuitive belief and feehng of necessity 
of all mankind : not that either approves in all 
cases of the /on?? wliich government assumes, but 
that the generic principle, in all cases, has the 
sanction of each. 

The legitimate object of government is to secure 
to the people the highest amount of freedom wdiich 
their moral condition and relative circumstances 
vrill admit. The means which it employs to effect 
this object, are, 1. Suitable penalties, addressed 
to their hopes and fears, to lay them under such 
restraints as to the indulgence of their appetites, 



110 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

propensities, and passions, as thereby to prevent 
them from operating as a bar to the free exercise 
of their intellectual and moral powers in pursuit 
of the essential good ; and, 2. The security which 
it offers to every mauj in the exercise of the higher 
powers of his nature, that he may do it without 
restraint from the passions of men ; or, in other 
words, to guarantee to every man the free exercise 
of his essential power to do good. 

That both the object of government, and the 
means which it employs, are correctly stated, 
will not be disputed. All men concur in these 
views. They underlie all our opinions and reason- 
ings on the subject of civil government. But 
in assenting to this much, (and how can it be 
avoided ?) may we not stand committed to much 
more than many theoretical politicians are aware ? 

Let us trace the logical inferences wdiich arise 
from the principles discussed. 

I. Man, we find, is endowed w^ith a self-acting 
power of will, which is called mental liberty, and 
hence he is accountable. For although it is ad- 
mitted that there cannot be a volition without a 
motive, yet it is an idea inseparable from our 
notions of mental liberty, that there cannot be any 
thing in these motives necessitating the volition ; 
for in that case it would not be free. But he is 
free to adopt either the right or the w^rong motive 



OF SLAVERY. Ill 

of volition, and therefore he is accountable for his 
actions. Nor does it follow that this liberty con- 
fers the rigid to do urong. His liberty, as we 
have shown, is to be understood in a sense agree- 
ing w^ith the coincident ideas of rigid and duti/. 
We are all conscious, that so soon as w^e perceive 
ihe good^ in any case, we have a feeling of ohliga- 
tion to observe it as the rule of conduct, and to 
avoid the contrary as wrong ; that is, each man has 
a conscience. Hence, although man has the iwwer 
to do wrong, he has no right to do wrong ; but 
only a rigid to do that which is good. Such, and 
such only, is the true subjective right of self-con- 
trol. It is not a right to do as we may please, 
unless we shall please to do that which, in itself, 
is right ; that is, the good. 

II. His fall, Ave have seen, has had the effect to 
place him in such circumstances, that the attributes 
of his lower nature, his appetites, propensities, and 
passions, often have such ascendency as motives 
of action, that he is always liable to do wrong. 
Many reasons, a iniori^ could be given for this. 
The mind is first brought into contact with the 
outward world through the bodily senses. They 
come first into play ; and hence the natural sensi- 
bilities are first developed. The will, in the form 
of spontaneous volition, is accustomed, from earhest 
life, to act from these as a motive, for the reason 



112 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

that there is no other from which it can act. The 
pure intelhgencC; the percipient of the good^ and 
the corresponding feelings of obligation, unfold 
themselves slowly ; and long before it may be said 
that the mind is matured, the will is accustomed 
to make the natural sensibilities the motive of 
spontaneous volition. Now the w^ill is, like all 
other faculties of the mind, subject to the great 
law of habit ; and if not checked, restrained accord- 
ing to the true idea of government, a hahit of sub- 
mission is formed, which, if not early dissolved, be- 
comes a confirmed habit. The will, instead of being 
the governing power of the mind, becomes, in truth, 
the faculty governed. It has lost the poiver of self- 
control. It has become the slave of passion — con- 
firmed in the habit of submission. It is precisely 
at this point of mental degradation that Paul 
declares of "vessels of wrath," those who have 
brought themselves into this state by their own 
act, that " they are fitted to destruction." Now, 
in view of these facts and the principles already 
established, what are the rights of man ? 

First. In the state of infancy. It has been 
proved that the subjective endowments of human- 
ity, and whatever is necessary to their existence 
and operation, are the natural right of man. That 
the undeveloped good is the endowment of this 
form of humanity will not be disputed : hence 



OF SLAVERY. 113 

whatever is necessary to its existence and ope- 
ration, is the natural right of infants. But it is 
obvious that a governing power, existing some 
where, is indispensably necessary in the case of 
the child ; that is, a power must exist sufficiently 
potent to control the spontaneous volitions of the 
will, or, in the circumstances of its position, it will 
probably extinguish its own liberty, by the law 
of habit. Government, then, — absolute govern- 
ment, — is necessary to the existence and operation 
of the endowment of humanity in the state of 
infancy ; and therefore absolute government is the 
natural rigid of the infant. Hence all civil govern- 
ments have exercised (so far as the will and phy- 
sical condition are concerned) an absolute despotism 
over the child, and have recognized the parent, or 
some one appointed in the place of the parent, as 
the agent of its functions in this respect. Not to 
accord to the infant this extreme form of control, 
would be a practical denial of its natural rights. 
Therefore this extreme form of despotism, s'o far 
from being a curse, is the natural right of infants 
— the good to which they are entitled by nature. 
And again, the civil government accords to the 
child a progressive modification of this form of 
government under given circumstances. It re- 
quires its agent to relax the stringency of tJiis 
control, and to extend a privilege of self-control, 



114 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

in the ratio in wliicli the pure intelligence and 
feelings of obligation or duty va^ iJTadicalhj devel- 
oped. For a child who had become, to a certain 
extent, a subject of duty, and was disposed to ful- 
fil this duty, but was kept, fer force, in the physi- 
cal condition of infancy until he lost the use of his 
limbs, would be considered as deprived of the right 
of self-control to that extent, and thereby cruelly 
treated. The agent in s.uch a case would be 
severely punished, and the child committed to 
other hands. 

Hence, in the ratio in which the pure intelligence 
is unfolded, and feelings of obhgation arise, or 
conscience is developed, and becomes the practical 
rule of action, the individual acquires the right of 
self-control, and only in that ratio. This right 
may ultimately reach to all things in themselves 
good — the civil government always holding the 
authority to punish departures from duty, and 
thereby always abridging men of the moral power 
to do wrong, (because it never could be their right 
to do wrong,) and ahvays fortifying them in the 
right exercise of hberty of will, by furnishing 
motives, addressed to their intelligence and pas- 
sions, to observe the right and to avoid the 
wrong in the exercise of the volitive power. 
Therefore, the natural rigid of man is the right to 
such absolute control by others, in the earlier 



OF SLAVERY. 115 

periods of his life, as that his ^vill may retain its 
self-acting power unimpaired, as his mind is natur- 
ally unfolded hy time and circumstances ; and to 
such modification of this absolute control in after 
life, as may afford him due restraint under tempt- 
ation to do wrong, and proper encouragement, at 
all times, to do right. 

Second. The riglit of man in a state of maturity, 
1. The government should accord him all his 
natural rights, and protect him in the exercise of 
the same. That is, the political government should 
cooperate wdth the Divine to preserve his will in 
its normal condition as a self-acting power, and to 
guarantee to him the exercise of this power of 
self-action in all things good. The man who is 
protected in the enjoyment of this inherent liberty 
of will, is a free man in the strictest sense of the 
word. The government over him may be concen- 
trated in the hands of one man, or it may be 
divided among an aristocracy, more or less nume- 
rous, or it may be w^hat is called a democracy, but 
this does not of itself affect the fact of his free- 
dom. If the government secure him in the enjoy- 
ment of these rights, and of all wdiich necessarily 
attaches to them, he is essentially free. The kind 
of go^'erninent, as a hereditary monarchy, or a 
democratic republic, does not, of itself, determine 
the actual fi'eedom of its subjects. History fur- 



116 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

nishes many examples of government in which the 
poAver of control was concentrated in the hands of 
but one, or of a few individuals, which afforded its 
subjects the highest amount of essential liberty. 
To this day, " ilie freedom of the British Constitii- 
tion' — as much as we justly prefer our own — is 
by no means an idle boast. It is a great mistake 
to suppose that a government which deposits the 
sovereignty among the great mass of the people, 
is the only free government. We are constrained 
to acknowledge that it is better to be oppressed 
by one^ or by a few tyrants, than by a multitude 
of tyrants. It is not this or that Jcind of govern- 
ment that makes the subject essentially free. But 
it is the fact that the controlling power, whether 
wielded by one or by many, secures each man in 
the enjoyment of his natural rights — affords him 
that system of appliances which develops and 
matures the self-acting power of his will — discour- 
ages aU abuse of this power, and fully protects 
him in the proper exercise of it in the pursuit of 
the essential good. It is this that rdalces him free. 
We prefer, for those to whom it is applicable, 
a democratic republic ; because it is a more secure 
government, and less liable to an abuse of power ; 
not because it is necessarily a more free govern- 
ment than any other. Another form of govern- 
ment may secure equal freedom in every essential 



OF SLAVERY. 117 

particular ; and this form may be as oppressive as 
auy other ; and Avhenever it is so, the condition of 
the down-trodden minority is far more hopeless 
than is that of the oppressed majority under some 
other form of government. Still, in certain con- 
ditions of the people, it is a much more secure 
form of government. The sovereigns of a state 
should always be socially equal, and, at the same 
time, honest as well as intelligent. Such rulers 
will not be oppressors. If the sovereigns of a 
democracy are intelligent, for the reason that but 
few participate directly and personally in the ad- 
ministration of government and the spoils of office, 
they have but few inducements to corruption, and 
are more likely to be honest. The mass of the 
people, though often wrong in opinion, are always 
right in sentiment — they mean to do right, and 
they desire to do right. If they do err in a given 
case, they may usually be set right, for they have 
no motive to stay Avrong. Hence, we think that 
when the condition of intelligence is fulfilled in 
the case of those occupying a social footing, we 
may expect a wiser and purer government ; whilst 
the extent to which they may participate in the 
affairs of government, giving it a firmer hold upon 
their affections, cannot fail to make it a more 
secure government. It is widely different in the 
case of a government concentrated in the hands of 



118 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

a few. The sovereiirns are at the same tmie the 
administrators of law. They share not only the 
honors of sovereignty, but also the immediate pro- 
fits of sovereignty — the spoils of office. Tempta- 
tions to abuse power are always present and 
active. Hence we find that such oovernments are 
more frequently oppressive. Withal, even in 
cases in which they are not, (for they need not 
be,) for the reason that the mass of the people do 
not immediately participate in the affairs of gov- 
ernment, they are not as devoted to its interests, 
and hence the government cannot be as secure. 
For these reasons, a democratic republic is called 
by way of eminence a free government; but, evi- 
dently, not because it is the only form which 
secures freedom to its subjects. Any of these 
forms are legitimate when they are so adapted to 
the condition of the people as to secure to them 
the higrhest amount of freedom of which that con- 

o 

dition will admit. 

2. The government should secure to him all his 
acquired rights, or the rights which he acquires 
by the proper use of his essential rights. Of i 
these, we notice, 

1. His rights of social equality wdth those with 
w^hom he holds common interests, pleasures, bene- 
fits, happiness, and duties. These rights usually 
vary with the condition of different individuals. 



OF SLAVERY. 119 

or different classes of individuals. It will not be 
maintained that an infant or idiot, and a man of 
rude intellect and vulgar habits, have interests and 
duties common to each other, and common to per- 
sons in a different condition, in any such sense as 
would entitle them all to social equality. Both 
their mental and physical condition would be a bar 
to any such equality. So in the case of the 
sexes, difference in physical condition is a bar, 
except in the marriage state. So also certain 
races of men are by their physical condition barred 
from social equality, in many respects, with those 
of other races. Those duties required by one 
condition in order to attain the essential good are 
very different from those of another condition 
which are necessary to attain the same object. 
But the privilege of social equality with all in a 
similar condition, which results from the discharge 
of the duties of that condition, is the right of 
every one. Some will require positive law to 
secure them; as in the marriage relation, the 
social as w^ell as other rights of the parties must 
be secured by law; whilst others will be better 
secured by leaving them to be regulated by the 
conventional usages of society — only another form 
of government. But there is an obvious differ- 
ence in the social rights of men wdiich government 
is bound to respect, unless it would arrest the pro- 



120 PHILOSOPPIY AND PRACTICE 

gress of civilization; because it is an inequality 
founded in that difference of condition, against 
which no government can provide, nor was it 
intended that it should provide. We notice, 

2. That government should secure to him all 
those political rights to which he is entitled by 
making a proper use of his essential rights. 

We need not specify all the political rights 
which may be regarded acquired rights. It is 
sufficient to consider this topic in regard to the 
question of sovereignty. We say, that all the 
members of a given society, having a common in- 
terest in that society, are entitled to share the 
sovereignty of its government on certain conditions, 
and on no other conditions. We take the ground 
that mere humanity, in itself considered, does not 
entitle any one to the rights of political sove- 
reignty. If this were so, we should be bound to 
place females, together with minors of both sexes, 
and the inmates of State prisons, among the sove- 
reigns of society. They are all perfect specimens 
.of humanity. Of the first it may be said, they 
are often equal in intellect with the other sex, and 
in other respects are generally superior specimens 
of humanity. These all have an interest in soci- 
ety common to all other members of it, and yet it 
is admitted that they should not be numbered 
among the sovereigns of the land. What is it, 



OF SLAVERY. 121 

then, that entitles a man to the right of political 
sovereignty ? First — He should have reached 
that point in mental development in which he will 
have a capacity, in common with others, to under- 
stand and appreciate the leading principles of 
government and their applications. Second — He 
should have reached that period in life in which 
there is usually a corresponding development of 
the moral sense — the feeling of obhgation to do 
right — which affords a reasonable guaranty for the 
faithful application of his knowledge in discharg- 
ing the duties of sovereignty. Third — He should 
be in that state of social equahty which gives him 
a common interest, a common happiness, and com- 
mon duties as a citizen, with other sovereigns, 
which will also afford a necessary guaranty for 
the faithful performance of his duties. And, 
Fourth — He should be in that physical condition, 
also, which is necessary to the duties of so respon- 
sible a position, under all ordinary circumstances. 
If one or more of these conditions exclude a whole 
sex, together with all minors, idiots, felons, and 
foreigners, they at the same time limit it to a defi- 
nite class of males, and bar all others from any 
title to it. No sensible man would admit that 
the power of sovereign control inherent in govern- 
ment could, with safety to the only legitimate 
object of government, the happiness of the sub 
6 



122 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

jectSj be deposited with any other class of men. 
But those who fulfil these conditions have a right 
to rule. They have acquired it by the perform- 
ance of those duties which have elevated them to 
the condition of being qualified for sovereignty. 
It should not be withheld. If those in a society 
quahfied for sovereignty be numerous, the govern- 
ment should take the popular form — a democratic 
republic. But if those qualified to rule are a 
limited portion of the wdiole society, some other 
form of government is more appropriate. 

But our subject leads us to notice : 

Third. The rigliis of man in the savage or uncivil^ 
ized state. 

No savage community was ever known to rise 
unaided to a state of civilization; and every ex- 
ample of savage society furnishes evidence that it 
is a state into which they have fallen by the ten- 
dencies of depraved nature. They are instances 
in which the government originally enjoyed — both 
human and Divine — has failed to preserve to the 
individual that liberty of wiU in the pursuit of the 
good v/hich government is designed to secure. 
The pure intelligence is not sufiiciently developed 
to constitute an enlightened conscience. Dwelling 
apart from civiKzed society, the absence of all the 
artificial w^ants of civilization is highly favorable to 
many of the natural virtues — such as hospitahty 



OP SLAVERY. . 123 

to strangers, truth, fidelity, and generosity to their 
friends ; but the undeveloped state of the pure 
reason leaves the moral sense in a state of so 
much immaturity, as to characterize them as un- 
faithful, cruel, and revengeful to their enemies. 
These are characteristics which, in their condition 
of physical maturity, make them terrible to their 
neighbors. 

Now the question is. What are the rights of such 
a people ? It is useless to discuss this question so 
far as it relates to mere savage government ; for 
in this view it is a c[uestion of no interest. But 
the question. What rights can they claim of a 
civihzed people ? is the one with which we have 
to deal. 

They certainly have a natural right to protec- 
tion under given circumstances, and freedom from 
oppression under all circumstances. If a civilized 
people, holding a balance of power in virtue of 
superior intelhgence, have an undisputed right to 
protect themselves from the cruelty and infidelity 
of neighboring savages, still it will be admitted 
that oppression in any proper sense of the term 
would be an invasion of their natural rights. 
They have a right to be left in the enjoyment of 
the highest amount of freedom which their mental 
state will allow them to use legitimately. And 
more than this, their natural rights claim for them 



124 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

reasonable exertions to elevate their moral condi- 
tion. Hence the noble efforts now being made by 
the Christian people of this country to evangelize 
the savages on our border, and the no less com- 
mendable efforts of the United States government 
to favor this design, by an annual appropriation 
from the national treasury. All this is only ac- 
cording them their rights. But do these rights 
entitle them to claim social equality with a civil- 
ized people ? That which it is the right of another 
to claim of me, it is my duty to grant. Is it then 
my duty to grant social equality to any or to 
every w^andering savage that may chance to pass 
my dwelling? Should I not only extend to him 
the rights of hospitality due to a wandering savage 
— give him food and shelter in given circumstances, 
and treat him kindly in all respects — but extend 
to him true social equality, such as it is my duty 
to do to other men in certain states of civilization ! 
No man — himself not a savage — w^ould dare affirm 
this ! The savage has no right to claim it. The 
reason is obvious on the principles discussed. 
Certain social rights arise only on certain condi- 
tions of moral development, and the fulfilment of 
the duties which attach to that state. The savage 
has not reached this condition ; hence has not ful- 
filled its duties, and is not entitled to the right of 
social equality which attaches to that state. For 



OF SLAVERY. 125 

a sensible man to affirm that he has this right in 
virtue of his mere humanity, would be simply 
ridiculous. And this being so, it follows, a for- 
tiori, that it is much less our duty to allow him an 
equal participation in the sovereignty of the State 
— allow him a control in the affairs of government 
— share the authority to regulate our relations, 
domestic and foreign; and even to participate in 
governing our families. 

The man who should gravely propose in Con- 
gress to annex the savage tribes of our border, as 
sovereign States of this Union, would, by all right- 
minded men, be regarded as insane. No one of the 
managers of looms, spindles, and other machinery, 
among the agrarian portion of our northern com- 
munity, with all their boasted knowledge of the 
natural rights of man, and their readiness to ac- 
cord equal rights to all men, and to protect them 
in asserting those rights, have, as yet, made up their 
minds to go thus far — although we may be at a loss 
to account for it that they so far falsify their prin- 
ciples as not to do so. 

Now, as it is not our duty to do this in behalf 
of a neighboring race of uncivilized people, for the 
reason that they have no right to it, how does 
the question stand in regard to a numerous class 
of such persons, spread through a definite section 
of our country ? Does this change of position and 



126 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

contact with civilization confer on tliem higher 
rights than it has ah^eacly been admitted belong 
to them in a sej^arate state in virtue of their 
humanity? Is it our duty to accord to them 
equality of political rights ? and for the reason 
that they are diffused through the mass of society ? 
Can this position be maintained ? On the con- 
trary, the change of position, and the service which 
in that position they render to the cause of civil- 
ization, which is assumed to acquire for them a 
right that does not belong to their class of per- 
sons in a separate position, so far from affording 
a vindication of this doctrine, furnishes a still 
stronger reason against it. They are not only 
uncivihzed, but are now in a position to exert an 
evil influence, which in a separate state they could 
not do, although they might dwell upon our bor- 
der. In a separate state, the artificial wants of 
civihzed life are unknown to them. The great 
sources of temptation to do wrong by invading the 
rights of neighbors, is not supplied to them by 
their position. But when in immediate contact 
with civilization, a great many of these artificial 
wants are learned by them, and felt to be objects 
of desire. These desires, by a fixed law of the 
human mind, must be a constant source of tempta- 
tion — they clamor for gratification. If the indul- 
gence should not be restrained, either by a system 



OF SLAVERY. 127 

of laws vrhich reached the case, or by the motives 
which a state of civilization supplies, they would 
inevitably result in a disregard of the rights of 
property, and a general depravation of morals. 
They are without the latter, for they are uncivil- 
ized. Hence the demands of their position must 
be met hy laws appropriate to an uncivilized 
people. The laws appropriate to a state of civil- 
ization, cooperating as they do with the motives 
supplied by that state, are not more than equal to 
the task of restraining the passions of civilized 
men. To rely upon them in the case of uncivilized 
men would be the grossest folly. Hence if it were 
not our duty to share our political rights with 
such a people, dwelling upon our border, in a 
separate state, for a much stronger reason it is 
not our duty to do this for those dwelling in our 
midst. If it is not our duty to do it, it cannot be 
their right to claim it ; for rights and duties are 
always reciprocal. But, on the contrary, for the 
same general reasons by which it becomes the duty 
of a civilized state to place all its minors under the 
despotism of parental control, as before defined, it 
is the duty of the state to place an uncivilized race 
which may chance to dwell within its borders, 
under a similar form of government. This despot- 
ism need not be oppressive in the one case any 
more than in the other. It is the proud boast of 



128 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

all our native citizens that they have always lived 
under a free government ; and yet they were 
brought up to the age of twenty-one under a pure 
despotism. But this does not deprive them of 
their right to boast. True, the government con- 
ferred almost absolute control upon the parent, or 
guardian, or master of the apprentice ! These 
might have oppressed them. But the government, 
which stood ready to vindicate their rights, did 
not do it. The government, in w^hat it did, only 
accorded them their natural rights, as we have 
seen — provided to confer on them the highest 
amount of freedom of which their condition would 
admit. It was to them essentially a free govern- 
ment, though in one of the forms of despotism. 
So in that form of despotism appropriate to a race 
of uncivilized people dwelling in the midst of a 
civihzed people, if adapted to their condition, or 
securing to them (as in the case of minors) their 
natural rights, it is, for them, and to them, a free 
government. So far from being a curse, as many 
of our philosophers teach, it is a blessing, which 
their essential rights entitle them to claim. Any 
other form of government would be, in their case, as 
well as in that of minors, a practical denial of their 
rights ; because it would result in the annihilation 
of their essential rights ; that is, the enslavement 
of their w^ills to the basest passions of fallen nature. 



OF SLAVERY. 129 

Hence, ^Ye find that government, both human 
and Divme, is a special necessity of man's fallen 
condition, and coeval with the history of the race : 
that its legitimate object is to preserve him from 
that annihilation of his essential liberty of will 
which w^ould inevitably follow if there were no 
government, and to secure him in the enjoyment 
of the highest amount of this liberty which his 
condition wiU allow : that to do this, various forms 
of civil government are admissible ; and that the 
one best adapted to the condition of the people is 
the one that should be applied, and is the only 
strictly /r(?^ government for the people to whom it 
is appropriate. A democracy applied to minors 
or savages, in the midst of a civihzed people, 
w^ould be the most grinding of all oppressions. 
We have seen that the means appropriate to gov- 
ernment are suitable penalties addressed to our 
passions of hope and fear : that the only riglit 
which a man has to exercise his inherent liberty 
— that is, the only right he has of self-control — is 
the authority to do that w^hich, in itself, is right 
— not a right to do wrong : that the exclusive 
authority of government is to restrain man from 
doing tvrong, and to protect and encourage him in 
doing right — restrain his ]Jower to do wrong, not 
his power to do right — this it seeks to strengthen. 
We have seen that the rights of man in a state oi* 



130 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

minority — and the same of uncivilized men dwell- 
ing in a community of the civiKzed — are to the 
benefits of an absolute form of government ; any 
other would be only a system of ruinous oppres- 
sion to them : that at his maturity as a civihzed 
man, he should be protected in the exercise of all 
the rights which naturally belong to a state of 
maturity, and also the enjoyment of all those 
rights which he has acquired by availing himself 
of the privileges afforded by his condition. Of 
his acquired rights, w^e see that on certain con- 
ditions he is entitled to social equality ; and that 
on certain further conditions, he is entitled to the 
right of political sovereignty. 

Now, we ask, in what sense can it be said that 
legitimate government is a concession of some 
rights, in order to secure others ? Certainly, in 
no good sense, seeing it only limits his power to 
do tvrong^ by laying him under suitable disabilities, 
and that it does this in order to secure both the 
power and the privilege of doing right. But by 
falsely assuming that government is a concession 
of rights, and that the government in which every 
citizen does not make a voluntary concession of 
the rights exercised by government is a cruel op- 
pression, men fall upon conclusions which, .when 
carried out, (and principles will tend to work out 
their results,) lead to agrarianism : that is, the 



OF SLAVERY. ' 131 

destruction of all rights, by the annihilation of 
all civilization. 

And again we ask, How does it follow that the 
domestic slavery of the negro in America is an 
abridgment of his inahenable rights ? Certainly 
not from the fact that he is placed under an 
absolute form of control, for we have seen that, in 
certain conditions of humanity, that is the only 
form of government that will secure any freedom 
at all : as in the case of all minors, and the case 
of an uncivilized race that may chance to be dif- 
fused among the mass of a civilized people. If, 
then, his government be an oppression at all, it is 
because his state of civilization, and the relative 
circumstances of his condition, have acquired for 
him the rights of social equality and the rights of 
loolitical sovereignty. These are questions of fact 
that will be considered in their proper place. 



132 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE yi. 

THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLE OF SLAVERY DISCUSSED ON 
SCRIPTURE GROUNDS, AND MISREPRESENTATIONS OP 
THE PRINCIPLE EXAMINED. 

The true subjective right of self-control defined according to 
the Scriptures — The abstract principle of slavery sanctioned 
by the Scriptures — The Roman government — Dr. Wayland's 
Scripture argument examined and refuted — The positions of 
Dr. Chauning and Prof. Whewell examined and refuted. 

The inquiry, if the institution of domestic sla- 
very existing amongst us agrees in its details with 
the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, is reserved 
for a future lecture. We now inquire how far it 
agrees w^ith the Holy Scriptures in its great funda- 
mental principles ? — the abstract principles which, 
thus far, have been shown to be right. 

We, of course, acknowledge the full authority 
of the Scriptures. Although not a formal philo- 
sophical treatise, the Bible embodies no other than 
the profoundest principles both of mental and 
moral science ; and all its teachings are in acc^/rd- 



OFSLAVERT. 133 

ance with them. " To the law," then, '^ and to 
the testimony." Do they sanction the principles 
I have sought to establish ? Do they accord to 
man any other subj.ective right of self-control than 
simply the yight to do that which in itself is right 
— that is, good ? True, they assume that he has 
the ijoiver to do wrong, but at the same time they 
deny to him all rigid to do wrong. All those 
scriptures which forbid his doing tvroiig, and en- 
join it upon him to do rigJit, under severe penal- 
ties for disobedience, are in proof. They are too 
numerous and famihar to requke that I quote 
them. They all assume that he has power to do 
either right or wrong^ but only a right to do that 
which is 7Hght. AVhoever, then, sets up a right to 
do a thing, and can give no better reason for it 
than that he has power to do it in virtue of his 
humanity, and that therefore others should not 
interpose obstacles in the way of his doing it, on 
peril of abridging hmi of a natural right, assumes 
far more than the Scriptures allow him ; nay, he 
assumes that which is forbidden him in Holy 
Scripture, no less than in reason and common 
sense ; and if alloAved to exercise such lawless 
power, under the plea of natural rights he could 
not fiil to put an end to all law, and to precipi- 
tate society into a state of anarchy. Therefore, 
the government which places minors, ahens, and 



134 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

citizens, who at the same time allow themselves 
to be subjects of a foreign prince, together 
with nncivihzed persons, in circumstances in which 
they cannot, or are not likely, to injure their 
neighbors, or to injure society, does not, for that 
reason, deprive them of a natural right, unless it 
could be shown that they have a natural right to 
do the very thing which the Scriptures declare 
they have no right to do, that is, to injure their 
neighbors ! It further follows, that the right to 
do an act which involves accountability, is the 
right to do that which, in itself, is right; or, in 
other words, the only natural right of self-control 
is the right to do that which is good. Hence, 
those who claim for any class of society a right to 
political sovereignty, should be prepared to show 
that the essential good requires that such privi- 
lege be accorded them, or they fail to establish 
their right, for the reason that no right can ever 
be justly acquired which does not coincide with 
the natural right to do good. 

Again, we have shown that the abstract principle 
of slavery is control by the will of another, w^ith 
its correlatives : that this is an essential element 
of all government; for a government which did 
not exercise the right to control men, even against 
their wills, under given circumstances, would be 
no government at all. Do these views accord 



OF SLAVERY. 135 

with the teachings of the Holy Scriptures ? That 
control is an essential idea of government, is an 
intuitive perception, and needs no proof The 
question then resolves itself into this : Do the 
Scriptures sanction government? That the Bible 
itself is only a system of government, will not be 
disputed. It forhids and commands, and requires 
all men to conform their volitions to its require- 
ments, as to that which is in itself good. More- 
over, it sanctions civil government in the most 
express terms : " Let every soul be subject unto 
the higher powers. For there is no power but of 
God : the powers that be are ordained of God. 
Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power," that 
is, the authority of government, " resisteth the 
ordinance of God ; and they that resist shall 
receive to themselves damnation," etc. (Rom. 
xiii. 1-7. See A. Clarke's notes.) This was said 
to the Roman Christians, and was an injunction to 
obey Csesar's government. In that government, 
it is well known, the slavery element greatly 
predominated : but little room w^as left for the 
exercise of self-control ; political sovereignty being 
denied to the people. In declaring government, 
even in this extreme form of controlling the wills 
of men, to be his appointment, God estabhshes the 
imnciple, as in itself right. Dr. Way land, how- 
ever, (see article, Modes in which Personal Lib- 



136 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

erty may be violated,) affirms, '' that the gospel is 
diametrically opposed to the principle of slavery." 
The moral precepts of the Bible, which he as- 
sumes to be diametrically opposed to the principle 
of slavery, are, (as quoted by himself,) " Thou 
shalt love thy neighhor as thyself; and all things 
whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, 
do ye even so unto them." He says that, " were 
this precept obeyed, it is manifest that slavery 
could not in fact exist for a single instant. The 
princii^le of the precept is absolutely subversive 
of the principle of slavery." That the gospel 
should, nevertheless, acknowledge slaveholders 
(for neither the JcAvish nor the Roman law re- 
quired any citizen to hold slaves) as " helievers,'' 
and " tvorthy of all honor,'' and require of the 
Christian slaves held by them to acknowledge 
them as hrethren, that is, good men, and accord 
them all honor, is evidently a troublesome question 
to the Doctor. There is no room for surprise. 
The second scripture quoted, it is allowed, inter- 
prets the first. In what sense then are we to 
understand the duty inculcated in the second? 
There are only two senses in which the form of 
the expression will allow us to evolve any signifi- 
cance whatever. The first is. Do unto another 
whatsoever you would have him to do unto you, 
if you were in his situation ; and the second is, 



OF SLAVERY. 1?>1 

Do unto another whatsoever you vv^ould have a 
7^i(/ht to reqmre another to do unto yoU; if you 
were in his circumstances. 

Now if we could suppose that the Saviour in- 
tended his language to be understood in the first 
sense, it will not perhaps be disputed that it 
is our duty to abolish domestic slavery, for we 
should, no doubt, desire to be released, if we were 
in a state of domestic slavery. But, unfortunately 
for the argument, this interpretation would not 
stop at the abolition of domestic slavery in the 
case of the African. It would reach to the domes- 
tic slavery of the child also. There is scarcely a 
wayward lad in Christendom w^ho could not justly 
claim release from parental restraint on the same 
principle ! Nay, more, the criminal at the bar of 
civil justice, the inmates of State prisons, and the 
poor man in his hovel, would all claim release ! 
And as that which is duty in others, in such cases, 
is a right in them, not to grant them release would 
certainly be a denial of their just rights ! Is this 
the sense in which Dr. Wayland would have us 
understand the Saviour of mankind? Certain it 
is, that this is the only sense in which his words 
can be understood so as to involve the necessary 
abolition of slavery ! We cheerfully acquit Dr. 
W. from the purpose to teach any such agrarian 
folly. Still, we can see no good reason why one 



138 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

SO eminent, as a Christian and a scholar, should 
permit even an early prejudice as to a practical ques- 
tion, about which he allows that he is uninformed, 
to betray him into such views of a plain principle 
as logically involve him in the grossest absurdities. 

That the second sense given is the proper one 
in which to understand the Saviour's doctrine can 
admit of no dispute. What we should have a 
right to claim, if we w^ere in the circumstances of 
a slave, is jDrecisely that which we are to accord 
to such slave, according to the precept of the 
Saviour. If we should have a right to claim poli- 
tical sovereignt}^, in those circumstances, we are 
bound to allow them such sovereignty, that is, 
release them from slavery. This directly involves 
the question, Whether they are fitted for that 
self-government which is involved in such sover- 
eignty ? That they are not so in virtue of their 
humanity merely, we have proved ; and whether 
they are so or not, by acquirement, is a practical 
question which Dr. Wayland allows that he is not 
competent to decide. This question will be met 
in another place. It is sufficient here to state, 
that the scripture so confidently relied on as re- 
pudiating the principle of slavery, is found not to 
reach the question of the principle at all, and, 
therefore, is wholly misapplied. 

The patriarchal form of government, which ex- 



OFSLAVERY, 139 

isted before the theocracy of the Jews, constituted 
the patriarch (he being the head of the family) the 
owner of slaves. Abraham, Lot, and others, held 
them in large numbers. These men enjoyed the 
unqualified approbation of Jehovah, and in their 
character of slaveholders, no less than in many 
other respects. According to Dr. W., they en- 
joyed the Divine approbation in the practice of 
iniquity ; for he says, the Bible condemns both 
the pinciidle and the loradice of slavery ! 

It is evident that the Jews broudit slaves with 

<_^ 

them from Egypt ; for the terms of the Decalogue 
not only imply that they were famihar with 
domestic slavery, but also that it was, at that 
time, an existing practice among them. But more 
than this, the Decalogue is strictly the constitu- 
tion which Jehovah himself gave to the Jewish 
nation. Now to assume that he provided in this 
constitution to protect in all time to come (for it 
is allowed to embody immutable principles) a rela- 
tion which was, in itself, an iniqidiy, is more than 
a mere absurdity — it is frofanity. And it is cer- 
tain that the tenth article of this constitution pro- 
vides to protect the right of property in slaves : 
''Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors man-servant, 
72or his MAio-SERVANT, noT any thing that is thy 
neighbor sT 

The Saviour has recognized this law, as it was 



140 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

originally designed to be, of universal obligation 
and force : '^ Think not that I am come to dedroy 
the laiu or the inophets : I am not come to dedroy ^ 
hut tofulfiir Matt. V. 17. 

In accordance with this fundamental law of the 
nation, God j^roceeded to provide in their civil in- 
stitutions for the oiDeration of a regular system of 
domestic slavery. Under these institutions, a 
Hebrew might lose his liberty and become a 
domestic slave, in six different ways. (See A. 
Clarke, on Ex. xxi.) 

1. In extreme poverty, he might sell his Hberty. 
Lev. XXV. 39 : '''If thy hr other he ivaxed poor and 
he sold unto theeT 

2. A father might sell his child. Ex. xxi. 7 : 
"If a man sell his daughter to he a maid-servant^ 

3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their 
creditors. 2 Kings iv. 1 : "My hushand is dead^ 
and the creditor is come to taJce unto him my ttuo 
sons to he honds7nenr Also, Matt, xviii. 25. 

4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the fine 
laid on him by the law, was to be sold for his 
profit whom he had robbed, Ex. xxii. 3 : "If he 
have nothing^ then he shall he sold for the theftT 

5. A Hebrew was liable to be taken in war, and 
sold for a slave. 2 Chron. xii. 8. 

6. A Hebrew slave who had been ransomed 
from a Gentile by a Hebrew, might be sold 



OF SLAVERY. 141 

by liim who ransomed him to one of his own 
nation. 

All who became slaves under this system were 
emancipated in the seventh year, except those 
who should refuse to accept liberty. Ex. xxi. 2-6. 
They were emancipated in the year of jubilee. 

But then, the law further provided for domestic 
slaves in ijerpeiiiitij . 

" Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids which 
thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are 
round about you : of them shall ye buy bondmen 
and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of the 
strangers that do sojourn among, you, of them 
shall ye buy, and of their families that are w^ith 
you, which they begat in your land; and they 
shall be your possession ; and ye shall take them 
as an inheritance for your children after you, to 
inherit them for a possession : they shall be your 
bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the 
children of Israel, ye shall not rule over one 
another with rigor." Lev. xxv. 44-46. 

The attempts which are sometimes made to 
prove that ^ovXog, of the Septuagint, and serviis. 
of the Vulgate version, translated indifferently 
servant or slave, means only a hired servant, need 
only to be mentioned to be refuted. That these 
terms defined an actual state of slavery among 
the Greeks and Romans, no one acquainted with 



142 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the facts will deny. But whatever might be their 
original meaning, they are to be understood, as 
Bible terms, in the sense of the original Hebrew, 
which they are employed to express. Now, 
nothing is more certain than this, that the Hebrew 
Bible (and the same is true of the English trans- 
lation) speaks of servants^ hired servants, and hond 
servants. The term servant is the generic form, 
and evidently means, a person who is controlled 
by the will of another : hired servant is one who 
serves in that way by contract for a definite 
period ; whilst hond servant is one who has either 
contracted to do so through his whole life, or who, 
by the usages of war, or hj inheritance, or by 
purchase from another, was so bound to service — 
(such as Paul calls a " servant under the yoke." 
2 Tim. vi. 1.) These different relations are dis- 
tinctly marked by the use of these terms in the 
Bible, and especially the meaning of bond serv- 
ant, in distinction from a hired servant : '^If ihy 
brother that dwelleth hy thee he tvaxen j^oor, and he 
sold unto thee, thou shalt not comjpel him to serve as 
a BOND SERVANT, hid as a hired servant, and as a 
sojourner, shall he heT Lev. xxv. 39, 40. 

Thus we find that the Jewish constitution pro- 
vided to protect the right of property in servants 
or slaves in the generic sense : that is, whether in 
the one form or the other ; and that He who gave 



OF SLAVERY. 143 

tliem their civil institutions, also provided under 
their constitution for the organization of a regular 
system of domestic slavery, in two distinct forms : 
the one, the enslavement, in the true generic sense, 
of Hebrews in given circumstances, for a definite 
period ; and the other, the enslavement, in the 
same sense, of the neighboring heathen, in fer- 
loetuity. 

Such was the legal origin of domestic slavery 
among the Jews. During all the calamities that 
have befallen that people, this constitution and 
these laws have known neither repeal nor modifi- 
cation. At no period of their history were they 
without domestic slaves ; and when the Saviour 
dwelt among them, the whole land was filled with 
such slaves. No State in this Union can with 
more propriety be regarded a slaveholding com- 
munity, than was that of the Jewish people in 
the days of the Saviour. In every congregation 
which he addressed, bond slaves may have min- 
gled. The hospitalities of every family of which 
he partook, w^ere probably ministered to him, 
more or less, by domestic slaves. And in all this 
time, and under all these circumstances, not a 
word is known to have escaped him, either in 
public or in private, declaring the relation of mas- 
ter and slave to be sinful ! But, on the contrary, 
Paul's denunciation — 1 Tim. vi. 3 — of the teach- 



144 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

ers of abolition doctrines, that they ''consent not 
to tvholesoine ivo7'ds, even the ivords of our Lord 
Jesus Christ^' is sufficient reason to beheve that 
he was always understood to approve of the rela- 
tion, and to condemn in express terms all attempts 
to abolish it as a duty of the religion which he 
taught. And certain it is, that this relation is 
made the subject of some of his most eloquent 
allusions, and the basis of some of his most in- 
structive parables : " One is your Master, even 
Christ," Matt, xxiii. 10 : " Good Master, what 
shall I do?" Mark x. 17: "No man can serve 
two masters," Matt. vi. 24 — are specimens of 
the former; whilst the parable, Matt. xiii. 24-28, 
'^And the servants said. Wilt thou that we go and 
gather them up ?" — of the vineyard. Matt. xxi. ; of 
the talents. Matt. xxv. ; and others of a similar 
nature, are striking examples of the latter. And 
yet, young gentlemen, the author of your text 
says, the doctrines of the Bible, and especially the 
teachings of the Saviour, are " diametrically op- 
posed to both the principle and the practice of 
domestic slavery." If this be true, it is really 
passing strange that Jehovah himself should pro- 
vide, in the organic law of the Jewish common- 
wealth, for the working of a system of domestic 
slavery, and, by a series of laws drawn up 
under this constitution, set such a system in 



OF SLAVERY. 145 

rtctual operation ; and that the Saviour of man- 
kind shoukl also give, according to every legiti- 
mate interpretation that can be put, either upon 
his language or his conduct, his unquahfied appro- 
bation to that which was so flatly opposed to all 
]iis doctrines ! It is saying but little of all this to 
affirm that it is grossly absurd ! It can appeal 
to no doctrine that we are aware of for its defence, 
unless it be the kindred absurdity that the ivill of 
God is not the rule of right, in this sense, that it 
always conforms to that Avhich, in itself, is rigid, 
i. e., good \ but that it is the rule of right in this 
other sense, that it is absolutely, in itself, the only 
rule of right ; and that, in the case under consid- 
eration, domestic slavery Avas right for the Jews, 
because God so willed it, but the same thing in 
principle, and under similar circumstances, would 
be wrong for any other people, because in regard 
to them God had willed differently : thus assign- 
ing to Deity the power to make the wrong the 
right, and the right the tvrong ! We regret to 
know that this absurd view of the Divine volitions 
has found its way beyond the pages of Dr. Paley. 
It is countenanced by some writers of eminent 
distinction in theology. But to give it a definite 
application in any case, is all that is required for 
its entire refutation. We rely with confidence on 
the conclusion that what God thus provided for in 



146 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the Jewish constitution, was right in principle in 
itself, and that, under the circumstances of the 
Jewish people, it was right in practice. 

Among the strange, if not wholly unaccount- 
ahle, misconceptions, if not gross misrepresenta- 
tioQS, of the fundamental ideas of domestic slavery, 
we may place those of Dr. Channing and Prof. 
Whewell. The latter, in his " Elements of Mo- 
rality," states that " slavery converts a person into 
a thing — a subject merely passive, without any of 
the recognized attributes of human nature." "A 
slave," he further says, " in the eye of the law 
which stamps him with that character, is not ac- 
knowledged as a man. He is reduced to the level 
of a brute ;" that is, as he explains it, " he is 
divested of his moral nature." 

Dr. Channing, the great apostle of Unitarianism 
in America, says, '' The very idea of a slave is that 
he belongs to another : that he is bound to live 
and labor for another ; to be another's instrument, 
that is, in all things, just as a threshing-machine, 
or another beast of burden ; and to make another's 
will his habitual law, however adverse to his own." 
He adds, in another place, " We have thus estab- 
lished the reality and sacredness of human rights ; 
and that slavery is an infraction of these, is too 
plain to need any labored proof. Sla^-ery violates 
not one, but all; violates them not incidentally, 



OF SLAVERY. 147 

but necessarily, systematically, from its very 
nature." 

These, together with your text, young gentle- 
men, are leading authorities on this subject. Fol- 
lowing these, we should adopt the belief that the 
principle of slavery in question is, as they express 
it, " an absorption of the humanity of one man into 
the will of another;" or, in other words, that 
'^ slavery contemplates him, not as a responsible, 
but a mere sentient being — not as a man, but a 
brute." 

If this be so, the w^onder is not, as they affirm, 
that the civilized world is so indignant at its 
outrageous wrongs, but that " it has been so slow 
in detecting its gross and palpable enormities : 
that mankind, for so many ages, acquiesced in a 
system as monstrously unnatural as would be a 
general effort to walk upon the head or to think 
with the feet !" We need have no hesitation in 
flatly denying the truth of this description, and 
pronouncing it a caricature. For if this be a faith- 
ful description, we can safely affirm that no in- 
stance of slavery ever existed under the authority 
of law in an}^ nation known to history. 

In the first place, the state of things so rhetori- 
cally described is a palpable impossibility. The 
constitution of the human mind is in flat contra- 
diction to the idea of the absorption of the will. 



148 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the conscience, and the understanding!: of one man 
into the personality of another ! This is a state 
of things which the human mind cannot even con- 
ceive to be possible, but does intuitively perceive 
to be utterly impossible. In the next place, we 
affirm that the idea of ^personal rights and inrsonal 
responsihiliti/ pervades the whole system. Both 
the Divine and human law^s which recognize , the 
system, assume the personality and responsibility 
of the slave. Even under the Roman and Grecian 
codes — which reco2;'nized far more strin2:ent forms 
of slavery than that of the African in this country, 
at any period of its history — this view of the sys- 
tem will find no support. Paul and Peter, who 
wrote with special allusion to slaves under these 
laws, so far from regarding this personality as lost 
and sw^allowed up in the humanity of the master, 
expressly assumed their personality and respon- 
sibility. For whilst they recognize him as a ser- 
vant, they treat him as a man : they declare him 
possessed, though a slave, of certain rights, which 
it was injustice in the master to disregard, and 
mider obligation to certain duties, as a slave, which 
it would be sinful in him to neglect ; and, more- 
over, that it was the offhfe of that religion whose 
functions they filled, to protect these rights and 
duties w^ith its most solemn sanctions. Hence 
they enjoin upon masters the moral obligation of 



OF SLAVERY. 149 

rendering to their bondmen '^ that tvldcJi is just 
and equal,'' and upon servants to " he subject to 
their masters witli all fear, not only to the good and 
gentle, hut also to tJie froiuard. For this is thank- 
ivorthy, if a man, for conscience totvard God, endure 
grief, suffering ivrongfidlgT Was this treating 
them as beings whose wills were absorbed in the 
humanity of the master, who therefore was the 
only accountable person for all their conduct ! 
Nothing could be more alien from truth, and signifi- 
cant of falsehood ! No: obedience is never ap- 
plied, except as a figurative term, and especially 
by the apostles, to any but rational and account- 
able beings. And with such inspired requisitions 
before us — ^^ ohedience from the one, and justice 
from the other'' — it is grossly absurd to affirm 
that the relation of master and slave regards the 
slave as a brute, and not as an accountable man. 
" The blind passivity of a corpse, or the mechani- 
cal obedience of a tool," w^hich Channing and 
Whew ell regard as constituting the essential idea 
of slavery, seems never to have entered the minds 
of the apostles. They considered slavery as a 
social and political economy, in which rel.'itions 
involving reciprocal rights and duties subsisted, 
between moral, intelhgent, and responsible beings, 
between whom, as between men in other relations, 
religion held the scales of justice. 



150 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

The right of property in man, as man, is no- 
where taught in Scripture, although it distinctly 
recognizes the relation of master and slave. The 
ridit which the master has in the slaA^e, accordinsf 
to the Scriptures, is, not to the man, but to so 
much of his time and labor as is consistent with 
his rights of humanity. The master who disre- 
gards these claims, denies his slave that which is 
^^just and equal." The duty wdiich the slave 
owes, is the service which, in conformity with 
these rights, the master exacts. A failure in 
either party is a breach of Scripture. 

The only difference between free and slave 
labor is, that the one is rendered in consequence 
of a contract, and the other in consequence of a 
command. Each is service rendered according to 
the will of another ; and each may, or may not, 
be according to the consent of the party rendering 
service. The former is often as involuntary, in 
point of fact, as the latter. Hirelings assent to it, 
in most cases, as a necessity of their condition. 
They do not consent to it — they are far from 
choosing it. A few persons reach that high attain- 
ment of a pure Christianity, in wdiich they learn 
in every state in wdiich they are placed, in the 
providence of God, ^Hherewith to be content" — 
they choose it. But in the general, hired service 
i.« in point of fact, as involuntary as slave labor. 



OF SLAVERY. 151 

A right, therefore, to the time and labor of 
another to a definite extent, by no means involves 
the right to his humanity. Such right is a mere 
fiction, to which even the imagination can give no 
significance or consistency. '^ It is the miserable 
cant of those who would storm by prejudice what 
they cannot demolish by argument." 

Thus, young gentlemen, that the abstract prin- 
ciple of the institution of slavery, and the princi- 
ples of natural rights, coincide, and that both have 
the unqualified approbation of Holy Scripture, 
cannot be successfully controverted. Natural 
rights and the principle of slavery do not conflict. 
No man has a natural right to do wrong. That 
wherein tbe principle of slavery is in itself 7n(jht, 
is that, when carried out in the form of civil govern- ^ 
ment, it furnishes an instance in which the sub- 
jects of government who are liable to injure society 
by doing wrong, are placed under such disabilities, 
or in such circumstances, in which they cannot or 
are not likely to do this wrong, but to do that 
w^hich they have a natural right to do, that is, do 
good. In all cases in which this principle enters 
into the government in such ratio or modification 
as to secure these ends, it coincides wdth natural 
rights, and insures to the subject the highest 
amount of freedom of which his moral condition 
will admit ; it is to him essentially a free govern- 



152 PHILOSOPHY AxVD PRACTICE 

nient, although, in adapting itself to his moral 
condition, it may assume an extreme form of 
despotism. 

Whether the Southern States of this Union 
have wisely adapted this principle to the moral 
condition of the African population residing within 
their horders, and thereby secured to them an 
essentially free government, remains to be con- 
sidered. 



OF SLAVERY. 153 



LECTURE VII. 

THE IXSTITUTIOX OF DOMESTIC SLAVERY. 

The question stated — The conduct of masters a separate ques' 
tion — The institution defined — The position of the abolitionists 
and that of the Southern people — The presumption is in favor 
of the Latter — Those who claim freedom for the blacks of this 
country failed to secure it to those on whom they professed to 
confer it — The doctrine by which they seek to vindicate the 
claim set up for them, together with the fact of history assumed 
to be true, is false. 

Having proved that the abstract principle of 
the institution of domestic slavery is a legitimate 
principle, both in itself, and in this, that it coin- 
cides with the great fundamental principle of r/V///f, 
and does not necessarily conflict with the ri(//il, 
and is therefore in itself (/oody and not evil; tJie 
next inquiry that arises is this : ''Is the institution 
of domestic slaverjj^ existing among us, and involving 
this principle, justified hj the circumstances of the 
casf*, and therefore right f — according to the doctrine 
evolved in the second lecture, namely, that the 
7* 



154 PHILOSOPHY AND PRxVCTICE 

principle of an action, being itself right, the action 
is right, provided other and coincident principles 
justify the action, or, as we usually say, provided 
the circumstances require it. 

Let it be observed, that the conduct of indiviil 
ual slaveholders, in the exercise of any discretion 
conferred on them by the nature of their relation 
as masters, is still a separate question, and not 
here to be taken into the discussion. We inquire 
as to the propriety of the institution : Is it de- 
manded at all by the circumstances of the case ? 
This is eminently a practical question, and is the 
onl}^ one which involves the morality of the insti- 
tution itself, now that the abstract principle is 
shown to be legitimate. 

Domestic slavery is one of the subordinate 
forms of civil government. It may be defined an 
imperium in imperio — a government within a gov- 
ernment : one in which the subject of the infe- 
rior government is under the control of a master, 
up to a certain limit defined by the superior gov- 
ernment, and beyond which both the master and 
the slave are alike subject to control by the supe- 
rior government. The question now arises, Is 
this a suitable government for the negro race in 
America? Without doubt, this question is to be 
settled on the same general principles by which 
we should settle a similar question in regard to 



OF SLAVERY. 155 

the suitableness of any other form of goA^ernment 
for any other people. For example, the same 
principles which determine the fitness of a mili- 
tary despotism, a constitutional monarchy, or a 
democratic republic, to any particular community 
of white persons, will determine the suitableness 
of this form of government to the African race in 
this country. They are all different forms of 
control, belonging to the same genus — govern- 
ment ; and pervaded by the same generic elements 
— the principles of slavery and liberty combined 
in different ratios, in order to secure the greatest 
amount of happiness to those communities to 
which they are fitly applied. The claims of the 
African might be separately examined in regard 
to each of these forms of government ; but this 
course is not demanded by the interests of this 
discussion. Nor need we stop to inquire, how 
the Africans came into this country : whether 
lawfully or unlawfully — w^hether by their own act, 
or the act of another. These are in truth side 
issues, and do not necessarily attach to this dis- 
cussion. They will be treated as incidental to the 
main question ] for although it were allowed that 
they are here unlawfully, and that it is our duty 
to remove them, yet it is still true that they are 
here, and cannot be immediately removed, and 
must therefore be subjected, as human beings, to 



156 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

some one of the known forms of civil government 
What form of government shall this be ? Accord- 
ing to principles well established, and admitted on 
all sides, it should be such a form of government 
as, from its adaptation to their intellectual, moral, 
relative, and physical condition, is best calculated 
to promote their happiness and the happiness of 
those with whom they are necessarily associated. 
But what form of government is it which will 
most probably accomplish this object ? 

The anti-slavery party, as well as the abolition 
faction, claim for the Africans a democratic repub- 
lic : that is, that they should have equal political 
privileges with the whites, and only be subject 
with them to the same modified form of slavery ! 
On the contrary, we of the South maintain that, 
from their lyresent state of mental imbecility, moral 
degradation, and physical inferiority, they should 
be placed under that more decided form of con- 
trol called domestic slavery. Who is ri(/Iit ? 

In discussing this question, we take the ground, 
first, that, in advance of all direct argument, we 
are entitled to the full benefit of the fremmption 
in argument — the burden of proof lies upon those 
who dispute our position ; and, secondly, that we 
are right in fact — that the circumstances of the 
case demand this form of government on behalf 
of the race, as their rights their blessing ; because 



OF SLAVERY. 157 

this form of government, duly and properly ad- 
ministered, as it may be, and ovrjld to be, is calcu- 
lated to afford them the highest, if not the only 
amount of political freedom and happiness to 
which their humanity is at present adapted, and 
especially in view of their existing relations to a 
higher form of civilization, in the case of those 
among whom they dwell. 

1. We are presumptiveli/ right. The onus lies 
wholly upon those who oppose our position. 

In taking this ground, we readily waive the 
presumption founded upon the mere fact that do- 
mestic slavery is an existing institution, and is 
entitled to stand as good, until the contrary is 
made to appear. We go back of this. We throw 
ourselves upon original ground. We say, that if 
this were now an original question in the country, 
the presumption would be, that this was the ap- 
propriate form of government for the African race 
in this country. 

As an original case, it would be an undisputed 
fact that the race was in an unciviHzed state. 
We have demonstrated, in a former lecture, that 
an uncivilized people is not adapted to a state of 
])olitical freedom. To such a people dwelhng in 
the midst of a civilized people, it could not be a 
right, because it would not be a good, but an evil, 
a curse. There is no reason to assume that to 



\X 



158 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

place them in this condition would elevate them 
at once to such fitness as would make it a bless- 
ing, but there is eveiy reason to presume that the 
reverse would follow an elevation to political free- 
dom. If any think otherwise; the burden of 
proof lies upon him. 

This presumption is greatly strengthened by 
the fact that they who claim pohtical freedom for 
the Africans now in the country, have signally 
failed to secure it for those upon whom they have 
professed to confer it. Essential freedom is in- 
separably interlaced with social equalifi/. With- 
out the latter, the former cannot possibly exist. 
The Northern States have long since conferred 
the forms of civil freedom upon the African por- 
tion of their population, but to the present hour 
they have denied them social equalifi/. Herein, 
they extinguish all the lights and comforts of 
essential freedom. They settle upon them a suf- 
focative anhelation, which is truly the most op- 
pressive form of slavery. The social inequality 
of the races, it is well known, exists in a much 
more modified form at the South than at the 
North. That those who have made, as we allow, 
an honest effort to confer essential freedom upon 
them, have signally failed, greatly strengthens the 
presumption that we are right in believing that 
the end they proposed was impracticable, and 



OF SLAVERY. 159 

that we need not be so umvise as to imitate their 
folly. 

But this presumption is still further strengthened 
by the fjict that the basis argument upon which 
the abolitionists usually rest the claims of the Afri- 
can, is entirely sophistical. It is this : Slave pro- 
perty was originally acquired by robbery and 
violence, and therefore can never become lawful 
property. Hence we should confer upon them 
political freedom, regardless of whatever conse- 
quences may follow ; seeing that an act of robbery 
can never extinguish the original right of the 
person robbed, or confer original title upon the 
robber. 

The doctrine assumed in this argument is, that 
possessions unjustly acquired originally, can never 
become legal possessions ; or that a state of things 
originally resulting from ivrong^ can never, by 
lapse of time, or the force of any circumstances, 
become right. The fact assumed as the basis of 
this doctrine in its application to the African is, 
that they were stolen while in a state of freedom, 
and reduced to a state of slavery. But we deny 
both the doctrine and the hypothetical assumption 
on which it is based. 

1. If the doctrine be true, it w^ill follow that all 
wrong is without any remedy, except in the few 
cases in which things may be restored to their origi- 



160 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

nal state. This would be a deplorable state of 
things indeed. It Avould work special disaster to 
our Northern brethren. For, first, if this doctrine 
be true, they own scarcely one foot of honest 
land ; nor is there any in the whole country, save 
the original purchase of William Penn, and a few 
other unappreciable portions of territory. The 
Indians were the original and rightful owners of 
this whole country, according to the theory of 
rights which forms the basis of this doctrine. 
From the most of their possessions they were 
forcibly ejected at the peril of life as well as lib- 
erty ; and from the remainder they were driven 
by a policy which in civilized life would be held 
and treated as knavery. These lands, according 
to this doctrine, should in all honesty be restored 
to their rightful owners, or to those wdio inherit 
them under their title, or the present holders are 
robbers. Second. The Africans, it is said, were 
stolen ! If so, those who received them in this 
country can only be regarded as the receivers of 
stolen property — no better, if not worse, than 
the original thieves. But on this hypothesis, 
Who stole them ? and who received this stolen 
property, knowing it to be so stolen ? These ques- 
tions admit of but one answer : The forefathers 
of the present generation of New England popula- 
tion! From their ports, vessels Avere fitted out, 



OF SLAVERY. 161 

and einployecl in this system of ^MTian-stealing." 
They became the receivers of this stolen property. 
Those who were not demanded by their own agri- 
cultural pursuits, w^ere sold in Southern markets. 
As the climate and soil of the South w^ere better 
suited to such labor, the larger portion of all this 
stolen property w%as accumulated in the South. 
The product of the lands of New^ England, and 
the product of these sales of stolen Africans, have 
been, from time to time, invested in commercial 
and manufacturing pursuits. These constitute the 
chief sources of the great w^ealth of the New Eng- 
land States, to the present day ; and these, it is 
well known, are mainly supported by the products 
of slave labor at the South. This being so, the 
great w^ealth of the Northern States can be regarded 
only as so much dishonest gain ! Really, it is time 
they were looking to the duty of restitution ! But 
the disaster of this doctrine does not exhaust 
itself with our Northern brethren. The Norman 
Conquest of Great Britain is that by which all the 
land-titles of England are held to the present day. 
All these titles are held under the rights acquired 
by this conquest. Now it is well known that 
the Norman Conquest was the most lawless piece 
of injustice and butchery, the record of which ever 
disgraced the pages of human history ! Upon the 
basis of the doctrine in question, it is equally cer- 



162 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

tain that there is scarcely an honest shilling in 
all England ! Nor is this all : the present titles 
of all Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, are 
traceable, more or less remotely, to a source 
equall}^ cruel and unjust ! Thus there is an end 
pretty much to all honesty, as to the possessions 
of the civilized world ! Surely, the absurdity of 
this conclusion is sufficient to invalid-ate the sound- 
ness of the doctrine from which it arises. 

Now we are far from affirming that wrong — 
Avhich is the negative of light — can ever become, 
by circumstances or any thing else, otherwise 
than it is, that is, tvrong, namel}^, not I'-ight. But 
the state or tiling which, under one set of circum- 
stances, is ivrong, i^^'^y? under other circumstances, 
become rigid. It is not the ivrong in itself which, 
in such a case, changes to right ; but, by a change 
of circum.stances, the ivrong no longer inheres, but 
the right inheres in that which formerly involved 
the wrong ; and therefore the state or thing which 
was before wrong, now becomes right. Hence, 
although it be admitted that the land-titles of the 
civilized world were originally founded in tvrong, 
an<l therefore were unjust titles, it may not follow 
that those wdio now hold them, do so by an unjust 
title, because the original title was unjust. The 
facts may be thus stated in regard to the most of 
them. The titles were originally acquired by 



OF SLAVERY. 163 

vjrong ; in many instances, cruel tvrong ! The 
authors of these wrongs were usually the heads 
of government, who, in their circumstances, wxre 
beyond control The/j did the wrong. The ulti- 
mate results of their doings, by the lapse of time 
with its perpetual changes, upset all the exist- 
ing relations of society, merged the descendants 
of the actors and sufferers in these wrongs into 
the mass of society, beyond the power of just dis- 
crimination, and introduced an altogether new state 
of things. Under these circumstances, the original 
w^rong was ultimately placed beyond all remedy. 
The restoration of the lands to the original and 
lawful owners became an impossibility. To at- 
tempt such a w^ork could only be followed by the 
grossest injustice to all the parties concerned. In 
this state of things, the question of title — Who 
shall own these lands ? becomes an original ques- 
tion. And in this state of the case, the simple 
fact of present possession — there being no one to 
claim antecedent possession — according to the 
fundamental belief of all mankind, confers moral 
title, and should therefore be made legal. Hence 
the title is just, because the idea of the right in 
itself — that which is good — now inheres in the 
man who holds property under such circumstances. 
The argument authorizes this prescriptive princi- 
ple in political science : That tvhen the original 



164 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

7vrong cannot he remedied^ tvitJioid inflicting greater 
injiu^g, ON all the parties concerned, than to iier- 
mit the existing state of things to remain^ in this 
state of the case, the existing state of things is in 
itself RIGHT, and should he permitted to remain. 

Upon the basis of this principle — without which, 
w^e have no scruple to say, society could nowhere 
harmonize for a single hour — we have no difficulty 
in vindicating the honesty of the descendants of 
the Puritans, or the land-titles of the civilized 
world, or the thousand other titles w^hich are 
equally involved by the absurd doctrine under 
consideration. Nor do we find any difficulty in 
allowing them a just title to all the proceeds of 
the African traffic, even though it should be con- 
ceded that their forefathers were, as they charac- 
terize them, a set of mere men-stealers ! 

Having invalidated this doctrine as a piece of 
gross sophistry, we remark : ^ 

2. That we also deny the hypothesis upon the 
basis of which this false doctrine has been made 
to apply to the Africans of this country ; that 
is, we deny that African slavery in this country 
had its origin or was founded in cruelty and rob- 
bery. 

There is no reason to doubt the statements of 
history, that many slave-ships originally (as per- 
haps is still the case to some extent) acquired 



OF SLAVERY. 165 

their cargoes, some by robbery and violence, and 
some by purchase. The sufferings of what is 
called the "middle passage " are, no doubt, cor- 
rectly stated in history. We have no motive to 
controvert these statements, nor indeed to inquire 
into their authenticity. We are not even the 
apologists of any of the actors in these scenes, 
much less their defenders. There may have been 
cruel wrongs, and under circumstances of even 
greater aggravation than those recorded in history. 
Be it so ! The actors have long since gone to 
their account, and we may safely leave them to 
Him who judgeth righteously. The conduct of 
these agents, whether cruel or kind, is not an 
element in this discussion. Our inquiry goes to 
the foundation of this matter — the true producing 
cause for the introduction of the African into this 
country, and his position as a slave. What was 
this ? It will not be maintained that these agents, 
whether humane or not, can in any proper sense 
be said to be the cause or foundation of African 
slavery in this country. With much greater pro- 
priety it may be said that the artisans of Boston 
were the founders and builders of the city. They 
were necessary agents. They might have done 
their part well. They might have done it dis- 
honestly, cruelly. Neither hypothesis wull enti- 
tle them to rank as the true and proper founders 



•y 



166 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

and builders of the city. So neither are the men 
in question to be regarded as the founders and 
builders of African slavery in America. Whether 
they did their part as they should have done, or 
should not have done ; or whether they did the 
work at all, or not, is the mere logical accident of 
a cause^ which lay back of all they did, and of all 
they might have done, whether good or bad. 
This cause is evolved by the inquiry, Why did 
they bring them into the country at all ? If some 
potent cause had not been at work, would they or 
any others have brought them into the country ? 
Certainly not. This cause^ then, whatever it w\as, 
is without doubt the true foundation, the imme- 
diate cause, of African slavery in America. What, 
then, was this cause ? But one answer can be 
given to this inquiry. On it there can be no 
division of opinion. It was the state of public 
opinion in Great Britain, and the state of public 
opinion in her colonies in this country at the 
time. This state of public opinion demanded 
their introduction and employment as slaves, and 
hence they were introduced and so emplo3^ed. 
Whatever demerit or merit, then, was in the origin 
and maturity of this state of things, is traceable 
directly to public opinion, and attaches directly 
as a virtue or a crime, as the case may be, to 
those who controlled public opinion, through the 



OF SLAVERY. 167 

long period of its inception, formation, and matu- 
rity, and to them alone. This being the true ori- 
gin and foundation of the system, if it had its 
foundation in rolhery and violence^ it was because 
pubUc opinion, through that long period, was so 
eminently corrupt as to set itself, deliberately and 
of full purpose, to work to perpetrate rohleri/ and 
violence^ without any redeeming virtue ; for such 
crimes admit of none. Was this so ? Can we 
be prepared to believe it? In default of all 
history at this point to detail the origin and pro- 
gress of pubhc opinion on this subject, we are left 
to form our judgment from our knowledge of the 
men whom we know to have participated more 
largely than any others in directing public opinion 
in their day, and to the history of the times in 
which they lived. 

In the seventeenth century, African slaves were 
first introduced into this country, and the practice 
was continued, under the sanction of law% until the 
years 1778 and 1808, inclusive. At an early 
period, public opinion was matured on this sub- 
ject both in England and in the colonies, and we 
see that for a long period it sustained the practice 
of introducing slaves directly from Africa into 
this country. Now, we affirm that the position 
postulated in regard to this case is among the 
most palpable absurdities that can be conceived. 



168 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

The character of the men who controlled public 
opinion in that day, and the patriotic and Christian 
age in which they lived, utterly disprove the gross 
assumption that they yielded themselves up to 
falsify the truth and the conscience that was in 
them, and become a mere corporation of land- 
pirates and freebooters ! If our ignorance of the 
history of those times should disqualify us to 
account for the existence of this state of public 
opinion on any strictly rational grounds, common 
sense would forbid that we assign for it so unrea- 
sonable a cause as this ; whilst the least that 
charity could suggest would be, that we place it 
among those things for which we were unable to 
account. 

From the time they w^ere first introduced into 
the colonies, about 1620, to the time the system 
may be considered as permanently estabhshed, 
makes a period of some hundred and fifty years. 
Among the eminent personages who appeared in 
Great Britain during this period, and did not fail 
to impress their genius and moral character upon 
the age in which they lived, we may mention, 
James I., Cromwell, and William III., Burnet, 
Tillotson, Barrow, South, with Bunyan and Mil- 
ton ; and also Newton and Locke. 

In the colonies, during this time, there lived 
Cotton Mather, Brainerd, Eliot, and Roger Wil- 



OF SLAVERY. 1G9 

liams ; Winthrop, Sir H. Vane, and Samuel 
Adams, with Henry, Washington, and Frankhn. 

These great men, and some of them eminently 
good men, stood connected with a numerous class 
of highly influential men, though inferior in posi- 
tion, and all together may he regarded as embody- 
ing and controlhng pubhc opinion in their day. 
Some of them w^ere preeminently distinguished for 
their patriotic devotion to the rights of humanit3^ 
Many others were men of wide views on all sub- 
jects, and of broad and expansive feelings of 
benevolence, and indeed of the soundest piety. 
Add to all this, many of them are to this day 
w^ithout a peer in intellectual distinctions, if indeed 
the same may not be said of their attainments in 
literature and science. The age of Barrow, and 
of Locke, and Newton, in philosophy, and of 
Washington and Franklin, in patriotism, public 
benevolence, common sense, and general learning, 
still stands on the pages of history without a 
rival. But these men, and their numerous comi- 
peers and co-laborers, were no better than a hoard 
of mountain robbers ! They coolly coincided with 
each other, w^ithout formal concert or convention, 
but by the common attraction of their natural 
affinity for power and plunder, to murder, rob, 
and enslave thousands of their innocent and de- 
fenceless fellow-creatures — the helpless victims of 
8 



170 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

public cupidity ! Such is the shameless position 
strangely postulated in regard to these men and 
their times ! We scruple not to affirm that this 
is more than a stupid gratuity ! It is a gross 
calumny upon humanity itself, of which the 
authors should be profoundly ashamed ! 

The advantages enjoyed in this day, by the 
great success which has attended the art of print- 
ing — an art for which we are indebted to the 
genius of a former age — would no doubt a fiord us 
a satisfactory history of the rise and progress of 
public opinion on such a subject, if it w^re to 
occur in this age. The state of the art at that 
period, the proscription of the press, and especially 
the new and unsettled condition of the colonies, 
furnishes good cause for the deficiency. We may 
not, therefore, account for public opinion as satis- 
factorily now^, as might have been done at that 
time. Still Ave have abundant materials for a 
charitable construction of the conduct of our fore- 
fiithers — both here and in England. The savage, 
and indeed the brutal condition of the larger por- 
tion of Africa, had long since been a matter of 
history. All well-informed men were familiar 
with the facts of African history. They were not 
only Pagans, but Pagans of the most stapid and 
enslaved kind — without the knowledge of God, or 
the rudest forms of civilization. The population 



OF SLAVERY. 171 

was divided into tribes, each governed by an igno- 
rant petty king, who ruled his eqnahy Pagan sub- 
jects a.s absohite slaves. In the place of the 
knowledge and worship of the true God, which 
was found to exist among the savages of America, 
the African worships the devil — the evil spirit, 
and that by the most humiliating and debasmg 
rites of superstition. His superstitions furnished 
frequent occasions for wars. These wars were 
highly sanguinary — often exterminating, as all 
wars amongst an ignorant and highly superstitious 
people have always been. To spare the life of an 
enemy in war, make him a prisoner, guard him as 
such, or make him labor as a slave for his support, 
is an advance of civihzation. To continue to put 
the enemy to death to the end of the war, is the 
necessary condition of a state of war in uncivilized 
life. Such was the known condition of all the 
African population south of Egypt and the States 
of Barbary. Did not their condition appeal, as it 
still does, to the benevolence of the civilized 
w^orld ? But what could they do ? Send Chris- 
tian missionaries ? No. We, in this country, 
have succeeded, to some extent at least, in civiliz- 
ing the savage tribes upon our border ! But 
the Indians w-ere not, like the Africans, idola- 
trous Pagans. Be this as it may, the com- 
petency of missionary enterprise to civilize and 



172 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

christianize Pagans, was, as it still is to any very 
material extent, an untried experiment. The 
opinion then obtained, and to this hour it is not 
wholly invalidated, that to reduce Pagans to a 
state of labor was, among other agencies, a neces- 
sary condition of their civilization. What then 
could Christians do in that age for African civil- 
ization ? They could not introduce them as lab- 
orers in England, or on the continent of Europe. 
Such a step would have denied bread to the mul- 
titudes who already filled the menial offices of 
society. It was impracticable to do this, and 
inhuman to attempt it. Thus for long ages had 
degraded and enslaved Africa ^'stretched forth" 
her imploring hands, appealing to the ben volence 
of the world for relief. But the wisest and best 
men of the times saw no means of relief, and at- 
tempted none. In this state of African history, 
colonial settlements were ultimately effected on 
the coast of North America. At an early period 
an experiment was made by a Dutch Manhattan, 
to introduce African labor into the colonies. Here 
a wide field was open for their labor. It was 
greatly demanded. To labor here denied bread to 
no other laboring poor, as would have been the 
case in England. The idea was caught at in both 
hemispheres, as a ^'God-sencV for the African — for 
the colonies, and a common civilization. No one 



OF SLAVERY. 173 

dreamed of robbery, injustice, or ^vrong to any 
one ! All considered it a ^vide door which a kind 
Pj'ovidence had opened, and which piety itself bade 
them enter ! No man Avho was worthy of the 
age authorized any one to fit out a ship, from the 
port of Boston or elsewhere, go to the coast of 
Africa, steal a cargo of natives, murder all who 
stood in the way of his schemes, tumble them into 
the hold of their ship, without regard to health or 
comfort, and make their way with their piratical 
cargo to Boston and other markets, and turn them 
into money ! Those wdio did this — as many no 
doubt did — acted on their own responsibihty, and 
have long since given their dreadful account to 
God ! But the men who were worthy of the age, 
and who would be worthy of any age, did author- 
ize, by a common public opinion, the practice of 
going to Africa, and negotiating a purchase w^ith 
those who had long held and treated them as 
slaves, and especially those who by the usages of 
barbarous war were condemned to death. They 
considered that thus to arrest the practice of put- 
ting prisoners to death was humane, and worth}^ 
of a Christian people; that to introduce them into 
civilized society, teach them the habits of civilized 
life, the principles and experience of Christianity, 
and ultimately perhaps to send them back to re- 
generate their fatherland, was an achievement 



174 PHILOSOPHY AxN'D PRACTICE 

worthy of the highest attainments of piety' 
Hence they had no scruple to purchase them 
when brought to the country. The most emi- 
nently patriotic and benevolent of the colonists 
purchased them. The most pious members of 
churches, and distinguished Christian ministers, 
did the same. The immortal Whitefield did not 
scruple to sustain his pious foundation in Georgia 
by a large income, for the times, from slave pro- 
perty. Were they correct in these views ? We 
appeal to facts. Multitudes were brought to the 
country who had otherwise perished in barbarous 
warfare, or been murdered as captives, and the 
others would have remained in a state of Pagan 
ignorance, superstition, and slavery. By coming 
into the country, they have been greatly improved 
in their mental, moral, and ph^^sical condition. I 
do not stay to trouble you with statistical details. 
But my investigations warrant a statement, which 
you can test at your leisure ; it is this : the num- 
ber of Africans who have died in the communion 
of the Methodist and Baptist churches of America 
to the present time — and who, therefore, we may 
assume, were christianized by their residence in 
this country — exceeds the whole number of all 
the heathen who have been christianized by the 
labors of all the Protestant denominations of 
Christendom since the days of Luther. Hence, 



OF SLAVERY. 175 

we coTiclufle, that whatever Avere the cruelties of 
individuals engaged in the original slave trade, 
(for which they were responsible,) and whatever 
may have been the abuses of the system since, by 
imlividual slave owners, the system itself was 
originally founded in a profound view of the prin- 
ciples of political science, so far as regards this 
country, and of political economy, and the claims 
of Christian benevolence, so far as it regards the 
Africans themselves. The resources of this vast 
country have been rapidly developed. It is 
already the asylum of the oppressed, and the 
home of the poor, of all lands. Slave labor has 
had no small share in all this. The reixeneration 
of the continent of Africa has already commenced, 
and the ultimate result is looked to with increas- 
ing confidence. 

Thus we have invalidated the doctrine^ and also 
the hypothesis, which form the basis on which the 
abolitionists rest their argument against the justice 
and policy of the South. That their position is 
not tenable is no direct proof that ours is right; 
but it does afford a jwesiimption that we are right. 
This presumption we claim, for the several reasons 
given. The direct argument in vindication of the 
system of domestic slaver\% upon its own merits, 
is reserved for the next lecture. 



17G PlULOSOPHr AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE yill. 

DOMESTIC SLAVERY, AS A SYSTEM OF GOVERXMEXT FOR 
THE AFRICANS IN AMERICA, EXAMINED AND DEFENDED 
ON THE GROUND OF ITS ADAPTATION TO THE PRESENT 
CONDITION OF THE RACE. 

There should he a separate and subordinate government for our 
African popuUition — Objection answered — Africans are not 
competent to that measure of self-government which entitles a 
man to political sovereignty — They Avere not prepared for free- 
dom when first brought into the country, hence they were 
placed under the domestic form of government — The humanity 
of this policy — In the opinion of Southern people they are still 
unprepared — The fanaticism and rashness of some, and the 
inexcusable wickedness of others, who oppose the South. 

It having been proved that both the doctrine 
and the assumption of fact by Northern fanatics, 
in regard to the claim of the African to a repnb- 
hcan form of government, are false, and that the 
presumption is in favor of the position of the 
South, that domestic slavery is the appropriate 
form of government for them, we are now left 
free to pursue our inquiry, without offset from 



OF SLAVERY. 17t 

these vagnries, into the merits of this system, and 

its appropriateness to the African race in this 

country. 

The African is now here. Whether riiiht or 

wrong originally, is not the question before us. 

lie is here. What form of government is best 

<^ 

suited to him, and those with whom he is neces- 
sarily associated ? And, 

I. Let it be observed, that they are a distinct 
race of people, separated by strongly marked 
lines of moral and physical condition from those 
amongst whom they reside. This difference is so 
strongly marked that there can be no spontaneous 
amalgamation by intermarriage, and consequently 
no reciprocity of social rights and privileges be- 
tween the races. Their history in the whole 
country shows this to be the case. They must 
therefore continue to exist as a separate race. To 
this state of things the government over them 
should be adapted, unless we would violate a 
material condition of the problem to be solved. 
For if the law should not provide for this state of 
the case, the conventional usages of the superior 
race amongst whom they dwell wdll certainly do 
so. This is in proof from the example of all 
those States which have failed to provide for the 
African as a separate and distinct race ; for the 
usages of society always supply the deficiency. 



178 PHILOSOPHY AXD PEACTICE 

This omission on the part of the laAV is evidently 
to the injury of the African. The history of thp. 
race in the Northern States will show this. Es- 
sential liberty is founded in, and is inseparable 
from, certain social rights and privileges. But in 
these respects, the African is a flir more proscribed 
and degraded race in the Northern than in the 
Southern States. 

A government, then, should be provided for the 
African, as a distinct and separate race, existing 
in the bosom of another and superior race. Of 
course this will be an imperium in imjjerio. 
And as they are confessedly the inferior race, 
who can never enjoy essential liberty or recipro- 
city of social condition with the whites, the gov- 
ernment adapted to them must be inferior and 
subordinate to that of the whites amongst whom 
they dwell. It must be subordinate ; for, in the 
nature of things, it must be an independent or a 
subordinate one. But two independent civil gov- 
ernments cannot coexist, and control distinct 
races dwelling together in the same community. 
It follows that it must be subordinate. As sub- 
ordinate, it must either assume some form of 
military government, or it must conform to the 
patriarchal species of government — a kind of 
family government — that is, the domestic form 
for which we contend. And as between a subor- 



OF SLAVERY. 179 

dinate militaiy or patriarchal form of gOA'ernment, 
both as regards the expense and the comfort, 
there can be no controversy, we may consider the 
claims of the patriarchal form, or the sj'stem of 
domestic slavery, as established in this case. 

13ut it may be supposed that the experiment 
in the Northern States invalidates the position, 
that this, being a distinct race of people, must be 
controlled by a separate and subordinate form of 
government. These States have a portion of this 
race, and it is said they find no difficulty to result 
from having placed them on a political footing 
with other citizens. But this is a mere assump- 
tion. It is not borne out by the fiicts of history. 

As before stated, the conventional usages of 
society have denied them the social rights and 
privileges of free citizens ! They have proscribed 
them as an inferior and degraded race. 

The usage which forbids intermarriage is at 
once a bar to all social equality. The road to 
offices of trust, honor, and profit, is closed against 
them — nay, even the means of subsistence beyond 
a scanty supply of the necessaries of life. These 
facts are undeniable. Now, to talk of liberty 
when we effectually deny to a people all that 
essentially constitutes it, is idle in the. extreme. 
It is a mere paper hberty ! — liberty to submit 
to the crushing usages of society ! — liberty to 



180 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

perish, in many instances, and that without sym- 
pathy from the State. In these respects the con- 
dition of the race is unquestionably better in the 
Southern States. If they must be a degraded 
race in the North as well as in the South, I hesi- 
tate not to affirm that our domestic system affords 
them a much better security for a competent and 
comfortable living. It makes better provision for 
them in old age and in youth, in sickness and in 
health, than is secured to them by their so-called 
liberty in the Northern States. 

Of course, poor f miilies (in the literal sense) in 
the South do not own slaves. They are usually 
held by those who at least enjoy the necessaries 
of hfe. Now, the progress of civilization has 
established the custom in all such families of shar- 
ing with their slaves the necessaries, and, not un- 
frequently, many of the comforts of life. The 
exceptions only make the rule general. 

Again, the Southern system, by making the 
African a part of the family circle, brings him into 
more immediate contact with the habits of civiHzed 
life, and cultivates a high degree of sympathy be- 
tween him and his OAvners. Hence, the well- 
known attachment of slaves to the families in 
which they were brought up ; and their utter 
repugnance to being hired to a Northern family, 
whatever may be their reputation for piety 



OF SLAVERY. 181 

ihey are without practical sympathy for them. 
They often subject them to a degree of hard labor 
to which they are not accustomed. Many humane 
men in the South decline hiring their servants to 
such persons. 

There are evils, it is true, inseparable from the 
presence of the race in this country, under any 
circumstances. By conferring on them a mere 
paper liberty, the Northern States have adroitly 
freed themselves of a portion of these evils ; but 
then they have evidently accumulated them upon 
the African. The policy is marked by no sym- 
pathy for the blacks. There is much more of 
selfishness than of benevolence in the working of 
the system. We conclude that our position is 
true, that the Africans, being a separate and dis- 
tinct race of people, who cannot spontaneously 
amalgamate with the whites, should be placed 
under a separate and subordinate form of govern- 
ment, if w^e consult either their welfare or our 
own. The examples referred to, as proof of the 
contrary, are strongly confirmatory of the position. 

But to claim for the African political equality 
with the whites is subject to still stronger objec- 
tions. We may further appeal to facts in support 
of our proposition. 

II. They are not, in point of intellectual and 
moral development, in the condition for freedom ; 



182 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

that is, they are not fitted for that measure of 
self-government which is necessary to pohtica] 
sovereignt3^ It cannot, therefore, be justly 
claimed for them. They have no right to it. It 
would not be to them an essential good, but an 
essential evil, a curse. To confer it on them, 
either by an act of direct or gradual emancipation, 
w^ould be eminently productive of injury to the 
whole country, and utterly ruinous to them. 

This proposition is capable of division. We 
will discuss the points in the order in which they 
stand. 

First. They are not, in point of intellectual 
and moral development, fitted for that measure of 
self-government which is necessary to political 
sovereignty. 

We have said they are an inferior race. That 
they are so in the original structure of their minds 
I pretend not to affirm — nay, I do not believe it. 
I ])elieve in the unity of the races — that God 
'' hath made of one hlood all nations of men'' Acts 
xvii. 26. But that the race in this country are 
inferior, in the general development of their intel- 
lectual and moral faculties, I am free to affirm. 
This I attribute to the crushing influence of the 
ages of barbarous and pag.an life to which their 
forefathers in Africa were subjected. For, as, in 
the progress of civilization, each succeeding gene- 



OF SLAYERY. 183 

ration of civilized persons occupies a higher intel- 
lectual and moral platform, so, in the descending 
scale of barbarism, each succeeding generation of 
barbarians occupies a lower platform of intellectual 
and moral development. Hence, we can account 
for the exceedingly barbarous condition of the 
race when first brought into this country. It also 
follows, that a race of men whose intellects have 
been long stultified by ages of barbarism, cannot, 
by any contact with the principles and usages of 
civilized life, be speedily throw^n up to an elevated 
platform. 

- This also accounts, in a good degree, for the 
slow progress which the race has made in civiliza- 
tion, since their introduction into the country. 

To recur now to the fact, which cannot be con- 
troverted, that they were brought into this country 
in a state of extreme barbarism and Pagan igno- 
rance : in the first place, were they then in a con- 
dition which fitted them for political sovereignty, 
and equality of soci.-d rights and privileges with 
the whites? If they were not for the latter, it is 
very plain that they w^ere not for the former. It 
is quite certain that they were not prepared for 
either. If they were, why did not the Puritans 
of New England allow them this sovereignty and 
equality ? By their consent and active coopera- 
tion, they w^ere brought into the country. Shall 



184 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

we revilingly say, with some of their ungrateful 
descendants, that the good sense and love of hb- 
erty Vvdiich had so lately driven them from their 
fatherland, to find an asylum here from the 
galling yoke of British oppression, had been so en- 
tirely absorbed in the passion for gain, as to cause 
them to be deaf to the claims of justice and 
humanity in behalf of the African ! Shame on 
their graceless accusers ! No : their good sense 
forbade that a race of barbarous Pagans, who 
could not be absorbed by intermarriage, but who 
must continue to exist amongst them as a separate 
and inferior race, should be placed on a common 
platform with free citizens ! Their humanity, no 
less than their good sense, induced them to adopt 
the plan of domestic government, or slavery, sanc- 
tioned by the usages of all civilized nations in 
similar circumstances. If, for any cause, a horde of 
barbarians should be introduced into New England 
in the present day, in numbers too great to be 
absorbed without injury, and in a physical condi- 
tion making it improper to permit their absorption 
by intermarriage with themselves, as in the case 
of the Africans, does any man in his senses pre- 
tend to believe that those States would confer on 
them either social er[uality or political freedom ? 
They would certainly consider it due to them- 
selves, no less than to the barbarians, to place 



OF SLAVERY. 185 

them under a subordinate gOA'ernment of some 
kind. YVell, this is precisely Avhat their forefathers 
did in the case of the Pagan Africans ; and what 
the Southern colonies did ^Yhen the Xew England- 
ers brought them South. Thus the origin of 
domestic slavery, as a political institution, in the 
country, shows that it was founded in the humanity 
of our forefathers, no less than in their good sense. 
Hence the second position stated : Political equal- 
ity cannot be justly claimed for them. They have 
no right to it. To them it w^ould not be an essen- 
tial good, but an essential evil — a curse. 

On the basis of the doctrine of rights discussed 
in a preceding lecture, this proposition follows as 
a conclusion from the fact here established in 
regard to the Africans of this country. 

But it may be said that the barbarous character 
of the race has greatly improved since their first 
introduction into this country. This is true — 
eminently so. And standing, as this fad evidently 
does, connected with the civilization and redemp- 
tion of a wdiole continent of barbarians, upon whom 
the crushing sceptre of Pagan ignorance has lain 
for unnumbered ages, it fully vindicates both the 
wisdom and benevolence of the providence of God, 
wdiich permitted their introduction in such vast 
numbers into civilized life, as affording the only 
means of accomplishing his humane design. 



4 



186 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

But the question of practical interest at this 
point is, Have they been so far raised in the scale 
of intellectual and moral elevation as to acquire 
for them the right in question ? This point can 
be settled only by an appeal to facts. I hesitate 
not to allow, that if they are, it may be justly 
claimed for them, because they are in that moral 
condition which justly entitles them to it. It is 
also admitted that if at the same time, they are 
in a condition to be absorbed by a spontaneous 
amalgamation, they are entitled to it here; and 
much more so than a certain other class, wdio are 
flockina- into the country, and to whom the ri^ht 
is accorded w^ithout scruple ! This latter, how- 
ever, is certainly not the case, ns the facts before 
alluded to do clearly show. If, then, they be 
entitled to politic;d freedom, they should be re- 
moved to another territory. Africa is the rightful 
home of the Africans. Thither they must go, if 
they should ever be fitted for self-government. 
Providence has wisely forecast this result, and is 
rapidly building up a free government on the co;ist 
of Africa, as their future home, and the centre 
of civilization and Christianity to that long-be- 
nighted continent. 

But what of the question — Ave they indeed 
fitted for politicd sovereignty? That many of 
the free colored population, and some among the 



OF SLAVERY. 187 

slaves, may be so, I think is more than prob- 
ably true. Of the former I would say, that it is 
a duty they owe themselves no less than the 
country to accept the offer of the Colonization 
Society, and remove to their native land. For, 
although it be allowed that they are in the moral 
condition of freedom, it is obvious that they never 
can be essentially free, in the bosom of a people 
with whom they can never amalgamate by mar- 
]'iage. And in regard to the latter, I have to say 
that such of their owners as give that play to 
their benevolent feelings which their circumstances 
admit, and, as far as they can do so with propriety, 
facilitate their removal to Africa by consent, en- 
title themselves to high commendation, and it is 
usually awarded them with great unanimity by 
Southern people. 

But tliat the same admissions can be made in 
regard to the masses of this population in the 
country, I utterly deny. On the contrary, I 
affirm that duty to ourselves and humanity to 
them alike forbid that civil liberty be conferred 
on them in Africa, or elsewdiere, and least of all in 
this country. 

The assumption of Northern ngitators, that the 
Southern people are not competent judges in this 
matter, because they are too much interested in 
their bondage, is as untrue in fact as it is offensive 



188 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

to our good sense and morals. No doubt there are 
many in the South capable of any form of wicked- 
ness ; nor need it be denied that we are as liable to 
be misled in our judgments as other people. But it 
is equally true, that the good sense and integrity of 
the great mass of our population is a full counter- 
balance to the acknowledged cupidity of the few. 
And for a set of Northern agitators, wdio never 
resided at the South, and who know but little or 
nothing of the African character, to affect to 
understand it better than the intelligent communi- 
ties of the South, is perhaps the coolest piece of 
impertinent self-conceit to be found on record ! 

The intelligent and honest portion of the country 
will scarcely fail to allow that the judgment of 
the Southern people as to the character and capa- 
bilities of the African is entitled to the highest 
confidence, and may be regarded as an authorita- 
tive settlement of this question. What, then, is 
the concurrent opinion of the Southern people ? I 
think myself well and fully informed on this 
point. I hazard nothing in asserting, that it is 
the general and w^ell-nigh the universal opinion of 
the inteUigent and pious portion of our entire 
population, that our African subjects, taken as a 
whole, are not fitted for any form of political free- 
dom of which we can conceive ; that they are not 
in a condition to use it to their own advantage, or 



OFSLAVERY. 189 

the peace of the communities in which the}" reside ; 
and that to confer it upon them, in these circum- 
stances, would in all probability lead to the extir- 
pation of the race, as the only means of protecting 
civilization from the insufferable evils of so direct 
a contact with an unrestrained barbarism. It is 
also an opinion equally sanctioned, that if they 
were prepared for political freedom, it would be 
scarcely less disastrous to confer it upon them in 
this country. The reason is obvious. As they 
cannot spontaneously amalgamate with the whites, 
they could not, in the nature of things, enjoy free- 
dom in their midst. Hence, if the masses should 
ever reach that point, in the progress of civiliza- 
tion, at which it might be proper to confer on 
them the rights of political freedom, another loca- 
tion would have to be sought for them. 

The Southern people (using the term in the 
sense specified) constitute a large portion of the 
whole Union. They have progressed as far in 
civilization, and, in many respects, much farther 
than any people in the whole country. A very 
large portion of them are confessedly pious, as 
well as intelligent. Taken as a whole, they are 
as eminently entitled to be regarded a rehgious 
people as any other people , on the face of the 
globe. Now, that such a people, so obviously 
entitled to the highest consideration throughout 



190 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the civilized world, should, in their circumstances 
of proximity to the African race, and long-con- 
tinued personal acquaintance with their habits and 
character, their capabilities and their liabilities, be 
of the settled and almost undisputed opinion that 
they are not competent to self-government; and 
that, in their present circumstances, both the law 
of reciprocity and the law of benevolence to the 
African forbid that the rights of pohtical freedom 
be accorded to them, does appear to me to afford 
the most conclusive settlement of this question of 
fact that the subject is capable of receiving. For, 
although ca question of f^ict, it is capable of no 
more conclusive settlement than an enlightened 
public opinion can afford ; and who are so Avell 
situated to form an opinion as the free and intelli- 
gent communities of the South ? and wdio can be 
more honest in its expression ? 

As we cannot suppose the agitators of the 
country on this subject to be ignorant of the fact 
that such is the opinion of the Southern people, 
and as we cannot allow that they are incapable of 
appreciating the weight of this testimony, we 
reach the conclusion that they are the victims of 
a fanaticism resulting from a mistaken religious 
opinion and feeling, which hurries them madly for- 
ward, as regardless of the extent to which they 
implicate their own good sense as they are of the 



OF SLAVERY. 101 

extent to which they are aspersing the reputation 
of their fellow-citizens, or the degree to which 
they are actually putting to hazard the lives of 
the very people for whom they piously persuade 
themselves they are laboring. 

Those whose conduct does not admit of this 
apology are generally men who occupy the arena 
of political agitation. Their object, evidently, is 
to accumulate political power in the so-called free 
States, and to promote the ends of personal ambi- 
tion. The fanatical excitement of the country 
may be turned to the account of these objects. 
Hence, they labor with a zeal worthy of a better 
cause. We of the South regard the agitators in 
Congress, for the most part, to be of this class. 
We consider them highly culpable, if, indeed, they 
be not actually criminal. For we cannot suppose 
them to be ignorant of the flicts and reasonings 
here adduced. And besides these, there are other 
facts of great and conclusive authority in the set- 
tlement of this question, which we cannot suppose 
have escaped the attention of men occupying their 
high stations. I propose to notice some of them 
iu the next lecture. 



192 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE IX. 

THE NECESSITY FOR THE INSTITUTION OF DOMESTIC 
SLAVERY EXEMPLIFIED BY FACTS. 

The attempts made at domestic colonization — The result of tho 
experiment in the case of our free colored population — The 
colonization experiment on the coast of Africa — The example 
of the Canaanitish nations — Summary of the argument on the 
general point, and inferences. 

" That the Africans are not^ in point of intel- 
lectual and moral development, fitted for that 
measure of self-government which is necessary to 
political sovereignty : that political equality can- 
not be justly claimed for them — they have no 
right to it : that to them it could not be an essen- 
tial good, but an essential evil, a curse ; and that 
to confer it on them, by an act of direct or gradual 
emancipation, would be eminently productive of 
injury to the whole country, and utterly ruinous 
to them." 

This is the general proposition still under con- 



OF SLAVERY. 193 

sideration. We haxe already discussed to some 
extent the first two points. I reserve the subject 
of emancipation for future lectures. I now pro- 
ce(jd to exemplify the truth of the positions dis- 
cussed on this general proposition, and thereby 
show the actual necessity that we sustain, in the 
present circumstances of the race, the system of 
domestic slavery. And, 

First. We adduce the fact of domestic coloniza- 
tion. 

This has been frequently attempted in the 
Southern States, and has as often failed for the 
want of success. Eminently humane, though 
mistaken men, have tried this experiment with 
their slaves. Some have tried it on a small scale : 
standing only as their nominal owners, and giving 
them the control of their time and labor, and the 
use of necessary lands for cultivation. Others 
have tried the same plan on a more extended scale 
of operations. But if there is a single successful 
experiment now in operation in the Southern 
t. ^i^h'Y, I am not aware of it. In every instance 
the o.. ' "s have been compelled to resume the 
control of Jieir slaves, to prevent them from be- 
coming a tax on the community, and a nuisance 
in the neighborhood. 

Second. The result of the experiment in the 
case of the free colored population, is equally in 
9 



194 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

proof that the race, taken collectively, is not fitted 
for self-government. 

Humane individuals have, from time to time, 
freed their slaves. In this way a large number 
has been accumulated. There is not a county in 
an}^ one of the older States in which there are 
not many, and in some a large number. In this 
experiment we have a full test of what the African 
is in the enjoyment of civil liberty, or of his capa- 
city for self-government, at least in the midst of a 
people with whom he cannot amalgamate. The 
result is daily before our eyes, and may be known 
and read of all men. After a few honorable ex- 
ceptions, the multitude are by no means as weU 
fed or clothed, and otherwise provided for, as the 
slaves in their vicinity. They make but little 
provision against the inclemency of winter, and in 
sickness are often the objects of public charity. 
A disposition to live by petty depredations upon 
society, instead of by honest industry, and a gen- 
eral depravation of morals, are characteristic of 
the caste. Their retrograde tendency is so obvious, 
that no doubt is entertained among men of reflec- 
tion that, but for the props and checks thrown 
around them by the laws and usages of civiliza- 
tion, they would soon relapse into the savage 
sta,te. These fiicts are so obvious as long since 
to have engaged the attention of our domestics. 



OF SLAVERY. 195 

Among them, the term '^'free nigger" is one of 
deepest reproach. Those who respect themselves, 
it is well known, form no matrimonial alliance 
w^ith them, from sheer contempt of their degrada- 
tion. I have freqnently met, in my travels, with 
old men, in independent circumstances, who by 
the doctrines of the pulpit, enforced by the per- 
sonal influence of a favorite minister in private 
life, were induced, in early life, to free theu^ 
slaves, who now confess, wdth the result of their w 
mistaken piety before their eyes, that they con- 
ferred no boon upon them, but rather inflicted an 
injury both upon them and upon society. They 
console themselves with the reflection that they 
intended all for the best. This picture is not sur- 
charged. You will do me the justice to remember 
that no dark picture can be drawn without dipping 
the pencil in dark colors. 

I have an interest in a slave, who is no doubt 
in the moral condition of freedom, as before defined. 
I have assured this man that he ought to go to 
Liberia, in Africa, and have insisted on his con- 
senting to go. But still I am so deeply convinced 
of the truth and importance of the facts here 
stated in regard to our free colored population, 
that a sense of duty to him and to the community 
forbid that he be placed among the number. 

But it may be supposed that a popular feehng 



196 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

of selfish hostility serves to crush a people who 
would otherwise rise at once in the scale of civil- 
ization. But this is not so. I repeat, with con- 
fidence, this is not so. The honorable exceptions, 
to which allusion has already been made, are uni- 
versally respected. '"John" (to use a general 
title) " is as honest a man, and has as much self- 
respect, as any man in the neighborhood," is a 
meed of praise which is readily accorded to free 
blacks, by all intelligent citizens, and with peculiar 
satisfaction, whenever it can be done. Such men 
of course enjoy the confidence and respect of their 
white neighbors in a high degree. But, I repeat, 
that examples of this kind are rare among our 
free colored population. No ! an original cause 
of this general degradation is found in the fact 
stated, that is, that they are not prepared for self- 
government, and therefore can derive but little, if 
any, benefit from its political and social advantages. 
The crushing weight of ages of barbarism still 
presses heavily upon the intellect of the African, 
and in his present circumstances, to say the least, he 
is too feeble to rise. It is the accident of his posi- 
tion that he is free, and not the law of his intellec- 
tual and moral nature that makes him so. He is 
a slave in fact ; and without the restraints of the 
domestic system, the tendencies of his barbarous 
nature are left, in a good degree, to take their 



OF SLAVERY. 1^7 

downward way. In many counties within our 
knowledge containing a large population of free 
colored persons, I am satisfied that nothing but 
the humanity developed by a high state of civil- 
ization, prevents the adoption of a summary pro- 
cess, by which the nuisance would be abated. 

But if the oljjection I am combating be modi- 
fied and restricted to the influence of that usage 
which denies them social freedom, I will agree 
that it has weight. It certainly retards the pro- 
gress of those who are rising to the moral condi- 
tion of freedom : hangs like an incubus upon those 
who have already risen to that state, and effect- 
ually shuts the door of enjoyment against them. 
This is no doubt true. But why are they denied 
social freedom? The answer is. Because they 
cannot amalgamate by a spontaneous intermarriage 
with the whites. But this is a disability under 
which God, by the nature of their physical consti- 
tution, has placed them, and which the progress 
of civilization itself forbids the whites to disregard. 
Therefore it is obvious that they never can be 
free in a community of whites. Because, as there 
is no essential freedom, but that which is insepa- 
rable from social as well as political freedom, and 
as there can be no social freedom, but that which 
coincides with the law of amalgamation by inter- 
marriage; and as Divine Providence has closed 



198 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the door against this, it follows that the African 
never can be free in the midst of a community of 
whites. 

But still, that this is not the primary and essen- 
tial cause of the extreme degradation of those 
Africans upon whom the experiment of freedom 
has been tried in this country and found to be a 
failure, and that it is orioinallv traceable to the 
fact that they are not, intellectually and morally, 
prepared for self-government, is still more clearly 
deducible from a 

Third consideration — the colonization experi- 
ment on the coast of Africa. 

The colony of Liberia has already taken its 
place among the nations of the earth as a free and 
independent government. No colony has ever 
prospered as that has done. As a rising nation, it 
shares the sympathy of the civilized world. It is 
destined to become the asylum of the Africans 
of America, and the centre of civilization to the 
long-benighted continent of Africa. Thither all 
eyes are turned as the oasis of hope in her desert 
history. 

But let us briefly trace the progress of this 
hopeful colony. How has it arisen to its present 
position? It has been built up from the free 
colored population of this country — colonized by 
tlif^'r own consent. Herein Divine Providence has 



OF SLAVERY. 199 

wisely discriniinated the proper suljects for this 
p'eat eiiterprir<e. His own estaljlishecl order of 
things has effected a judicious discrimination of 
the proper persons for this work. The sacrifices 
to be made were great. The chmate was inhosi)it- 
able. Extreme hazard of life, in all cases, was to 
be encountered in the process of acclimation. A 
Pagan and savage population were to be encoun- 
tered and subdued. Every thing gave undoubted 
indications, that if ever the tree of African liberty 
should be made to flourish upon that Pagan coast, 
its roots must be watered by the blood of many 
patriot martyrs. In these circumstances, it is 
obvious that there would be no volunteers in this 
work but men of the right stamp. Those only 
whose intellects furnished the flint and steel from 
which the spark of liberty could be struck, and 
upon the altar of whose hearts the fires of freedom 
could be kindled, to hght their pathway to that 
far-off and inhospitable land, would embark in this 
great work. Those who were in the condition of 
freedom — whose hearts throbbed with the pulsa- 
tions of liberty — were the first to embark in the 
cause of African civilization. For several years 
the Avork went on — slowly, but surely. Many 
fell in the conflict. Still the work went on ! The 
spirit which animated the patriot colonists is elo- 
f[uently expressed in the dying words of the 



200 PHILOSOPHY .\ N D P 11 A C T I G E 

immortal Cox : '' Let a thousand missionaries fall, 
ere Africa be given up !" 

Thus far the work went on in the order of 
Divine Providence. The voluntary principle was 
discriminating. Those who were in the moral 
condition of freedom gladly embraced the oppor- 
tunity. Those who were below that condition 
were deaf to the call. But this divinely sanc- 
tioned process was quite too slow for the fiery 
zeal of emancipationists. The door of Providence 
did not open fast enough ! Encouraged by past 
successes, they attempted to hasten the work. 
Forgetful of the original and avowed objects of 
the Society — the colonization of the free people 
of color, 2uith their otvn consent — the friends of 
colonization began to preach manumission to the 
owners of slaves. Many hearkened to the call as 
a Macedonian appeal to their feelings of benevo- 
lence. The slaves upon large plantations were 
emancipated, and funds placed at the disposal of 
the Society, to remove and settle them as free 
citizens in the new colony. They were sent off 
in considerable numbers, for several years. The 
result was disastrous. It threatened speedily to 
reduce the whole colony to a savage state. They 
w^ere not in the moral condition of freedom — they 
were not prepared for that degree or form of self- 
a'overnment. Thev could not be absorbed bv the 



OF SLAVERY. 201 

body politic, without imparting their character to 
the body. The full measure of their golden 
dreams was simply liberty to do nothing. We 
need only glance at the results. Mr. Ashman, at 
that time Governor of the colony, remonstrated, in 
official communications, with the Colonization So- 
ciety in this country : the officers generally, and 
other eminent citizens, also remonstrated in private 
letters to their friends — all begging to be spared 
the calamities that awaited them from so great an 
influx of population, evidently unprepared for 
freedom, and praying that they might be strength- 
ened, as heretofore, by a judicious selection of 
persons in some degree, at least, quahfied for civil 
liberty ! 

If the colonization experiment has proved the 
capacity of the African, under suitable develop- 
ments, for self-government, (w^hich, in our view, 
it has very satisfactorily done,) it has proved, 
with equal clearness, that without those develop- 
ments he is wholly unfit for it; and that the 
masses of the race are, as yet, undeveloped, and 
consequently unfit for political sovereignty. 

These facts are open to the observation of all 
men. They strongly rebuke the restless agitators 
of the country. They clearly confirm our position 
that the Africans in America are not, as yet, in 
ihe moral condition for freedom. I have proved 



202 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

in a former lecture that political sovereignty is 
not a natural but an acquired right. The facts 

J here adduced demonstratively prove that they 
have not yet accjuired this right, and that there- 
fore it cannot be justly claimed for them. But 
more than this — they aiTord the strongest pre- 
sumption (and further than the presumption in its 
favor, I do not design to notice this topic at this 
time) that the emancipation of the slaves, in their 

^ present moral con^lition, confers no benefit upon 
them, but is calculated to inflict a deep injury both 
upon them and upon society. 

It is a general, and indeed an almost universal 
opinion in the South, that any thing like a system 
of emancipation, whether direct or gradual, by 
v;hich the number of free colored persons should 
be materially increased in the Southern States, 
would inevitably be followed by their indiscrimi- 
nate massacre, as the only means of abating an 
insufferable nuisance, unless the citizens w^ere to 
forsake the soil in favor of a barbarous horde. 
Such an opinion, (I may repeat,) so generally en- 
tertained by so large a community of enlightened 
and virtuous citizens, who are in immediate prox- 
imity with the race, and acquainted with their 
character from early life, taken in connection with 
the historical facts here enumerated, affording to 
any mind so clear a proof of the correctness of 



OF SLAVERY. 203 

their opinion, should be admitted as an authorita- 
tive settlement of the position I have taken on 
this branch of the subject. Hence, we may con- 
clude that the law of reciprocity and the law of 
benevolence require that the Africans be continued 
under an inferior and subordinate government. 

The question again recurs, What form of gov- 
ernment shall this be ? Of course, it must be a 
modification of a military despotism, or a modifi- 
cation of the patriarchal form of government. I 
am free to say that I can conceive of none so 
appropriate as that adopted by civilization, for 
the purpose of controlling a barbarous or semi- 
barbarous race (and especially such as could not 
amalgamate) dw^elling in the midst of a civilized 
community : that is, the system of domestic gov- 
ernment now in operation in the Southern States. 
If any shall devise another, it will, at least^ have 
the merit of novelty to commend it to public 
attention. 

The correctness of the doctrine here assumed, 
that domestic slavery is the appropriate form of 
government for a people in the circumstances of 
the Africans in America, is very strikingly exem- 
plified by the history of the remnant of Canaan- 
ites, who still dwelt in the land after its subjuga- 
tion and settlement by the ancient Israehtes. An 
inquiry into the Divine policy in regard to these 



204 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

heathen will fully vindicate this position. The 
civil code of a nation is admitted to be the best 
index of the habits and morals of the people. 
This remark, however, cannot always be taken 
without modification. We shall greatly underrate 
the civilization of the Israelites, who first settled 
the land of Canaan, if we judge them alone by 
their civil code. Smiting and cursing father and 
mother, brutal assaults upon pregnant married 
women, digging pits to destroy neighbors' cattle, 
(Ex. xxi.,) seduction, adultery, dealing with fa- 
milic^r spirits and witchcraft, and various wicked- 
ness which delicacy forbids to repeat, (see Lev. 
xviii.,) unnatural marriages, such as with mothers, 
sisters, children, and grandchildren, (Lev. xviii.,) 
are all practices which are mentioned in a man- 
ner that shows they were common in that day. 
If we judge the morals of the Israelites by the 
statutes here referred to, we shall certainly con- 
clude that they had not the slightest claim to the 
character of a civihzed people ; but it is equally 
certain that such judgment would be wide of the 
truth. For although in many respects the na- 
tional morals and standard of public opinion and 
feeling w^ere in a feeble condition, as seen in their 
obvious prochvity to idolatry, still those laws are 
far from being characteristic of the morals of the 
nation. The Divine record does not leave us to 



OF SLAVERY. 205 

oonjecture the cause for these laws. It is written, 
Lev. xviii., '' Defile not ye yourselves in any of 
these ; for in all these the nations are defiled 
which I cast out before you. For all these abomi- 
nations have the men of the land done, which 
were before you, and the land is defiled ;" and, 
'^ Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations 
which I cast out before you ; for they com- 
mitted all these things, and therefore I abhorred 
them." 

We can be at no loss to see that the remnant 
of heathen who survived the slaughter, and still 
dwelt in the land which the Israelites settled, 
were in such power, and accustomed to such 
opinions and habits of bestiality, as to render the 
progress of civilization, in unrestrained contact 
wnth them, at least a problem, if not an absolute 
impossibility. 

Equality of political and social condition with 
the Jews would have made short work of civiliza- 
tion in that age. Hence we find that bold lines 
of demarcation were drawn between the Jews and 
those depraved " strangers." Both political and 
social equality were forbidden. The Jew^s were 
authorized (Lev. xxv.) to make " bond-men and 
bond-maids" in perpetuity (unlike the slavery of 
their brethren, which was for a definite period) of 
the " heathen that were round about them, and of 



206 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the children of the strangers that sojourned among 
them; of them they should buy and of their fami- 
lies that were with them, w^hich they begat in the 
land" — '' they should take them as an inheritance 
for their children, and they should be their bond- 
men for ever." The theory of certain pseudo- 
philanthropists of the present day, Avould have led 
them to prate loudly in behalf of equality, and the 
duty and practicability of speedily elevating this 
people in the scale of civilization. But He who 
was too wise to err and too good to do wrong, 
knew better, and ordered differently. Barbarism 
— long-continued barbarism — cannot be speedil}^ 
elevated by any contact with the forms of civiliza- 
tion. He who denied them political sovereignty, 
(except on certain conditions, which clearly indi- 
cated such an appreciation of the privilege as pro- 
perly entitled them to the right,) at the same time 
provided that they be denied social equality, and 
reduced to a state of absolute slavery — they w^ere 
made bond-slaves in perpetuity. Herein they were 
placed under the ban of social as well as pohtical 
proscription — a position in which they could do 
the least possible mischief to the progress of civil- 
ization, but would contribute greatly to its ad- 
vancement, and thereby promote their own im- 
provement much beyond any thing they could have 
attained in their original heathen state. 



OF SLAVERY. 207 

The Africans when first brought hi to this coun- 
try were not a whit better in morals, and Avere 
greatly inferior in intellect to the ancient inhabit- 
ants of Canaan. And, although it be admitted 
that they have improved, the facts given clearly 
prove that they are still incompetent to self- 
government. They are, therefore, no more en- 
titled to the right of political sovereignty than the 
Canaanites were. But more than this, the Can- 
aanites did not materially differ from the Jews in 
their physical condition. There were no physical 
reasons a2:ainst amalsfamation. Intermarria2:e, it 
is true, was forbidden, but it w^as for reasons 
growing out of their heathen state alone. Whilst 
that state should last, the common interests of each 
in civilization forbade such social equality ; but 
this cause out of the way, the Canaanites could be 
absorbed and lost in the stream of posterity. But 
not so with the African, as we have shown. He 
is destined to exist as a separate people. We do 
not say he shall not, but he cannot to any mate- 
rial extent amal2;amate with the Caucasian race. 
If, therefore, it was proper for the Jews to make 
slaves of the Canaanites, for a much stronger 
reason it is now right for us to retain the African 
in a similar state, and until such time as Provi- 
dence shall — if ever — open the door for his return 
to his fatherland. 



208 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

On the general question, Is the system of 
domestic government existing amongst ns, and 
involving the abstract principle of slavery, justi- 
fied by the circumstances of the case, and there- 
fore right ? we reach an affirmative conclusion, for 
the reasons : 

I. That the Africans are a distinct race of 
people, who cannot amalgamate to any material 
extent with the w^hites, and who, therefore, must 
continue to exist as a separate class. 

II. That they are, as a class, decidedly inferior 
to the whites in point of intellectual and moral 
development, so much so as to be incompetent 
to self-government. Although they have shared 
largely in the progress of civilization, they havt 
not reached this point. The proof is : 

1. Such is the almost universal opinion of the 
most intelligent and pious communities throughoui 
the whole Southern country, who certainly are well 
acquainted with their character and capabilities, 
and therefore fully competent to judge in their case. 

2. The experiments at domestic colonization 
which have been made in this country prove it. 

3. The experiments in the case of the free 
colored population spread through the country are 
equally in proof 

4. The colonization experiment on the coast of 
Africa is still more conclusive. 



OF SLAVERY. 209 

III. That domestic slavery is the appropriate 
form of govermnent for a people in such circum- 
stances, is fully exemphfied by the Divine pro- 
cedure in the case of the heathen subdued by the 
ancient Israelites. 

We infer : 

1. That they have no right to social equality or 
to political sovereignty — that to accord them either, 
in their present moral condition, would be a curse 
instead of a blessing. It would in all probability 
lead to the extermination of the race, and inflict a 
deep injury both upon the moral and physical con- 
dition of the whole country. 

2. That every consideration of humanity and 
prudence requires that, until a better form of sub- 
ordinate government shall be devised, they must 
be continued under the system of domestic slavery 
now in operation. 



210 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE X. 

EMANCIPATION DOCTRINES DISCUSSED. 

Gradual emancipation, the popular plan — It would operate to 
collect the slaves into a few States, cut them off from contact 
with civilization, and reduce them to barbarism — It would 
make an opening for Northern farmers and their menials to 
come into those States from which they retired — The modifica- 
tions which the system of slavery has undergone within late 
years — A comparison of the menials of the free and of the slave 
States, and the only plan of emancipation admissible — The 
gospel the only remedy for the evils of slavery — Paul's phil- 
osophy and practice, 1 Tim. vi. 1-5. 

Immediate emancipation is the scheme of the 
abolitionists proper, whilst gradual emancipation 
is the favorite plan of the anti-slavery party. The 
ground we should take is this, that no plan of 
emancipation, either immediate or gradual, is adapt- 
ed to the present moral condition and relative cir- 
cumstances of our African population. Nothing 
of the kind could at this time be attended with 
good, but only with evil. 

I limit this discussion to the subject of gradual 



OF SLAVERY. 211 

emancipation, because the reasons by which we 
invalidate this doctrine will, a fortiori.^ disprove 
the doctrine of immediate emancipation. 

It is said that a system of gradual emancipa- 
tion succeeded well in the Northern States, and 
that it would succeed equally well in the Southern. 
Bat I deny the assumption in each case. 

There never w^as a large slave population in the 
Northern States, owing to the unsuitableness of 
the climate. The question arises. How did this 
system operate with the few they had? It is 
well known that the ovrners anticipated the time 
appointed for the law of emancipation to go into 
operation, and sold their slaves in the South ! 
This law only operated to transfer the slaves, for 
the most part, to a climate and soil more congenial 
to their constitution and habits. The operation 
of the scheme, therefore, resulted only in the 
emancipation of a few of the whole number, (see 
Lecture I., page 22;) and these few, as has been 
proved, have, by the social, and, we may add, in 
many instances, by the municipal regulations of 
the States within which they reside, been essen- 
tially injured by the change instead of benefited. 
Hence the scheme did not succeed well in the 
Northern States. And can it be assumed that it 
w^ould succeed better in the Southern States ? On 
the contrary, the result would be much more fatal 



• 



212 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

in the Southern, for the reason that we have a 
much larger African slave population than existed 
in the Northern States at the time their emanci- 
pation laws were adopted. Now, suppose (what, 
however, can scarcely, if at all, be allowed a sup- 
posable case) that all the Southern States should 
simultaneously pass laws, providing for the gradual 
emancipation of the slaves, and hence, ultimately, 
effect their emancipation, as provided for by law, 
for the reason that there would be no market 
open for the sale of them, as was the case when 
the scheme was attempted at the North : even in 
such a state of things, you cannot fail to perceive 
that the propriety of such a measure turns en- 
tirely upon the truth or error of a position already 
discussed. 

If my position be correct, (and it is evidently 
established by the facts adduced in the preceding 
lecture,) that their mental imbecility and moral 
degradation is such that, whilst it remains a fact 
that for physical and uncontrollable causes they 
cannot amalgamate, any material addition to our 
present number of free colored population would 
result in their extermination, humanity, leaving 
all other reasons out of the account, would forbid 
the measure ! Nor can I persuade myself that 
there is an emancipationist, however fanatical, this 
side the strange delirium of a deliberately wicked 



OF SLAVERY. 218 

purpose f do wrong, who would not " pause upon 
the brink of this Rubicon," when assured that the 
Southern people generally believed that extermi- 
nation would, in all probability, be the result of 
his priceless experiment. 

But it is extremely idle to suppose that all the 
Southern States would simultaneously pass such 
a law ; nor does the scheme assume that they 
would do so. No : the plan advocated is, that the 
District of Columbia, and the States of Delaware 
and Maryland, should first emancipate their slaves ; 
then Virginia, then Kentucky, then Missouri, and 
so on, until the work should be consummated by 
a gradual process, requiring several years in each 
State. Let us now inquire what this plan pro- 
mises. 

If the owners of slaves in the States which first 
in order passed such a law, did not anticipate the 
time of its taking effect, (as in the case before 
referred to,) and sell them in the States where 
no such law had, as yet, been passed, the result 
would be, as already stated, an accumulation of 
free colored population, with its inevitable conse- 
quences. But this would certainly not be the 
general operation of such a law. For if cupidity 
should not prompt a different course, the owners, 
foreseeing the results of such an accumulation of 
free colored population, both to the whites and 



214 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the blacks, would anticipate the law, in by far the 
greater number of instances, and sell their slaves 
in the States in which no such law had been 
passed. Still, many, no doubt, would not take 
this course : a want of forecast, and most generally 
a mistaken notion of humanity, would prevent its 
adoption. In this way, we cannot hesitate to 
believe that the accumulation of free colored 
population w^ould be so great as to induce their 
extermination at no distant day. This calamity 
could be averted only by a sale of the slaves into 
some other State in anticipation of the laAv provid- 
ing for their manumission. 

Now, wdiatever of mere selfishness there may 
be in the proposed measure, nothing is more cer- 
tain than that it is entirely destitute of all human- 
ity for the slave, and of all just regard to his 
progress in civilization, and his more speedy eleva- 
tion to moral fitness for freedom. For by the 
time this work had progressed through the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, the States of Delaware, Mary- 
land, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and, it might 
be. North Carolina and Tennessee, the far greater 
part of the numerous slave population of the wdiole 
country would be accumulated in the remaining 
States of the South and South-west. This would 
be the inevitable result. For the free-soilers, it 
seems, are determined, if the effect of agitation 



OF RL AVERT. 215 

can accomplish it at the ballot-box, that there 
shall be a cordon of free States, formed by the 
newly acquired territory of New Mexico and Cali- 
fornia ; and in this case there w^ould be no further 
outlet for the retiring slave. 

Let us now^ inquire what would be the effect of 
the accumulation of the race within the limits of 
a few States : 

At present, that element of slavery which is 
properly called domestic, confers incalculable ad- 
vantages on the slave. By this feature of the 
system, as it now operates, the slaves are distrib- 
uted in small numbers in different families. There 
they are brought, every one of them, into more or 
less of immediate contact with a high state of 
civilization. Many of them pass the early part 
of their lives in the dweUing-houses, and around 
the tables and firesides of their owners, and in the 
midst of all the company visiting the house. 
Others are engaged in field and mechanical pur- 
suits, requiring frequent intercourse with the 
whites. Their Sabbaths are often spent (and it 
is daily becoming more and more so) in the midst 
of our worshipping assemblies. In all these ways, 
to go no farther, they enjoy the means of im- 
provement, and are making daily progress in civil- 
ization. This, without doubt, is the plan indicated 
by Providence, as affording the most natural 



216 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

means of accomplishing their ultimate fitness for a 
more desirable form of civil liberty. 

That it cannot be said of any material portion 
of them that they have thrown oiT the incubus of 
preceding ages of barbarism, may be true ; yet it 
is equally true that their progress in civihzation, 
and that in an increasing ratio, is perfectly obvious 
to any man whose age and acquaintance with the 
race would entitle his opinion to credit. Any old 
man amongst us is prepared to speak of the great 
improvement of slaves within thirty or forty years 
past. The domestic element of the system has 
accomplished this improvement, and will certainly 
in process of time greatly elevate the race above 
what it now is ; and they are now a very different 
people from their forefathers who first came into 
this country. I have no hesitation in behoving 
that it is the grand design of Providence that they 
shall be thus fitted (the far greater portion of 
them) for position in Africa as the source of civil- 
ization to that long-benighted continent. 

Now, to take from the present system its do- 
mestic element, or, what is virtually the same 
thing, to place it under such disabihties as t-o pre- 
vent its benevolent results, w^ould arrest the progress 
of African civihzation, and put off his moral eleva- 
tion for ages to come. And this is precisely the 
effect which the accumulation of all the slaves of 



OF SLAVERY. 21 » 

the whole country within the limits of a few^ 
States must have. The domestic element of the 
system would be effectually crippled, if not entirely 
destroyed. A large number of slaves w^ould be 
congregated on single plantations. The whole 
territory w^ould be in the possession of but a few 
wealthy planters. They w^ould chiefly reside in 
the cities and more healthy districts of the 
country. Their plantations w^ould be under the 
control of stewards. The steward and his family 
(usually small) would constitute the w^hole white 
population on a plantation, numbering, as would 
often be the case, several hundred slaves ; and the 
same state of things would exist, to a greater or less 
extent, through large districts of country. This 
would be a condition of the race essentially differ- 
ent from that in which they are placed by the 
present system ; and we cannot fail to perceive 
that they would be well-nigh cut off from all con- 
tact wdth civilization. Instead of continuing to 
rise in the scale of civilization, as they Avill do 
under the present system, they would begin at 
once to relapse into the barbarism of their original 
pagan state. This result w^ould be inevitable — 
only so far as their dow^nward progress might be 
arrested by the occasional voice of the self-sacri- 
ficing missionary, calling to the altars of Christian 
w^orship ! Would this 1)0 humane ? Rather, would 
10 



218 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

it not be brutal ? Yet such would be the result 
of the scheme of " gradual emancipation !" 

There is, however, another result of this pseudo- 
philanthropy that I need not omit to mention : 
the removal of the slaves from the States named, 
and the extermination of the remaining free 
colored population, should they be found to exist 
(as it is most likely they would) in numbers so 
great as to constitute a nuisance requiring sum- 
mary abatement, would make a fine opening for 
the enterprising farmers of the Northern States 
to come in and possess these fertile hills and val- 
leys, abounding in wealth and blessed with a most 
salubrious climate. It would also afford a fine 
outlet for their own menial population, Avhich 
threatens so many and serious results to them — 
the papal vice and ignorance from Ireland and the 
continent of Europe, which is now flooding the 
free States. How far these lofty considerations 
may constitute items in the catalogue of motives 
which prompt the political agitators of the country 
to press the subject of African emancipation, I 
pretend not to say ! One thing, however, I may 
say in behalf of the Southern people, and that is, 
that as they have no idea of perpetrating these 
cruel wrongs upon the unfortunate race which 
Providence has thrown amongst them, so they 
expect to have no use for those depraved and 



OF SLAVERY. 219 

perishing menials. They prefer the slaves, in nny 
view of the subject. We may conclude, then, that 
the position estabUshed is not weakened in any 
degree by considerations of either direct or gradual 
emancipation. No : the emancipation and removal 
to Africa of those, and those only, whose moral 
and social condition entitles them to a higher form 
of political freedom, as the voluntary act of the 
individual owner, is the only natural and safe 
method of emancipation. It affords the only hope 
of Africa, and of the African in America. 

The proposition discussed, and, I think, clearly 
established, relates to the essential propriety and 
the fitness of the system of domestic slavery as an 
institution. Whether this institution is capable 
of improvement, and, if so, what improvements 
are demanded by the progress of civilization, are 
questions quite independent of any thing yet dis- 
cussed. These topics may engage our attention 
at a future period in these lectures. I would only 
remark, in this place, that the system has under- 
gone great modifications since its adoption. Laws 
and usages that were, no doubt, eminently adapted 
to the extremely barbarous character of the race, 
when first brought into the country, have lon*]^ 
since become obsolete, and the same may be said 
of many subsequent regulations. Even the strin- 
gent measures adopted on the rise of abolition 



220 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

excitement in late years, have had but a brief 
authority. The progress of civilization is the 
same in its results in this case as in that of any 
other people. As a state of barbarism yields to 
the liaht of civihzation, men are more and more 
disposed to do right, and the laws and usages 
which were before necessary to compel them to 
do right, are thereby superseded, and soon grow 
into disuse. Hence, many of our Northern citi- 
zens wdio form their opinions (as many do) of the 
practical character of this institution at the present 
day from the historical account of the laws and 
usages of a former period, regardless of the fact 
that they have become, for the most part, obso- 
lete, entertain a very incorrect opinion. The in- 
stitution at this day is a very different aflfliir, prac- 
tically, from wdiat they suppose it to be, judging, 
as they do, from the laws and usages appropriate 
to a more barbarous condition of the race. 

I have no hesitation in affirming that in by far 
the greater number of instances, the condition of 
Southern fimihes, embracing domestic slaves, is 
much better (that is, both whites and blacks) than 
that of the larger number of Northern families, 
with hired domestics, on large farms. The labor 
is much less severe, and the discipline much less 
strict. The Northern family has more frequently 
to appeal to the authority of civil law, and to the 



OF SLAVERY. 221 

right of dismissing unfaithful servants, than the 
Southern has to appeal to domestic discipline. 
And still further, the Southern domestic is prac- 
tically, in all respects save one, quite as much 
upon a social footing with the white members of 
the family as the Northern domestic is wdth the 
family in which he is employed, wdiilst the sym- 
pathy existing between these different castes in 
the Southern family is much greater than that 
which exists in the Northern. 

I acknowledo^e but one difference in recfard to 
practical social equahty between the domestics of 
these flimilies. The white domestic, from the fact 
that he belongs to the same race, is capable, by 
industry and enterprise, of rising to an entire 
social footing with his employer, whilst the Afri- 
can domestic cannot do so. Although the civil 
law should confer on hini the right to do so, the 
paramount usages of civihzed life, founded upon 
his physical condition, would forbid it. This ad- 
vantage, we admit, is above all price ; but having 
its foundation in the wdse and inscrutable provi- 
dence of God, it is without remedy by any means 
wdiich we can adopt ; and, indeed, why should we 
wish even to alter a condition of thing's founded 
in physical nature by Him '' who is too wise to 
err and too good to do wrong," simply because to 
our limited view of the Divine economy it pre- 



222 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

sents points of friction which, viewing them from 
another stand-point, we should desire to avoid ! 
But aside from this advantage, I feel free to affirm, 
that in every neighborhood which is brought per- 
manently under the influence of the apostolic pre- 
cepts enjoining the relative duties of master and 
slave, the practical working of the system secures 
to the African a higher degree of essential happi- 
ness than is found to exist with the whites wdio 
fill the menial offices of society in the free States. 
No white man can be satisfied with the position 
of a menial in society. Perpetually chafed by the 
chains which fetter all his attempts to rise in the 
scale of social equality, he is the subject of a con- 
stant and painful irritation. Every failure in an 
enterprise which promised to elevate him to social 
equality with those around him, is a new cause of 
heart-burning and jealousy of all about him, and 
often an overwhelming source of temptation, not 
only to distrust the providence of God, but to em- 
ploy the political franchise to unsettle the founda- 
tions of society, by levelling down the whole to a 
common platform. Hence the agrarian doctrines 
Vv^hich find embodiment in various social or^aniza- 
tions in the free States. Nothing but that rehgion 
which both teaches the duty and imparts the 
moral power to " be careful for nothing, but in 
every thing to give thanks/' and in every condi- 



OF SLA V E R Y . 223 

tion in whicli Divine Providence places us, '* tlieix- 
witli to be content," can reconcile a white menial 
to his condition in such a country as ours. The 
government itself can only be secure in a republic 
so long as a pure Christianity (for thrit only can do 
it) operates to elevate the social condition of those 
laboring classes who would otherwise be menials, 
or reconcile them to a station to which the acci- 
dent of birth, miscarriage in business, or inferiority 
in intellect, inevitably consigns them in the com- 
petition of business life ; or so long as pure religion 
shall so operate as to leave the balance of political 
power with those who are either so elevated or so 
reconciled to an inferior condition. But httle, if 
any thing, of all this, so far as it relates to our 
colored menials, is to be found at the South. Al- 
Avays conscious of their intellectual inferiority (I 
speak of the masses) from constant contact with 
the superior moral power of the whites, and equally 
conscious that then' physical condition is an im- 
passable bar to all social equality by marriage, 
they not only do not aspire to it in their feelings, 
but, in all cases in which they are treated as the 
Scriptures require masters to treat their servants, 
they learn to be contented with their lot, and, 
looking to their owners as their lawful and safe 
protectors, become affectionately attached to the 
whole family, and, dismissing all care, are the most 



224 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

cheerful and, indeed, merry class of people we 
have amongst us. A slave who did not think 
more of himself, and feel himself to be better off, 
in all respects, than the state which agreed with 
his idea of what he calls " poor white folks" and 
" free niggers," really would not be worth having 
as a house servant in any Christian family of my 
acquaintance. Indeed, in freedom from care, and 
all the elements of a mere temporal happiness, the 
slaves of an enlightened and well-ordered family 
are often in a much more desirable situation than 
the heads of the family, who are occupied with the 
duty of caring for all and of providing for all. 
For the master of such a family to plod his weary 
way to daily labor on his farm, with a care-worn 
countenance, which traces itself in his slow and 
measured step, whilst the loud laugh of his merry- 
hearted slaves is echoing around him, is no uncom 
mon thing in the South. As to the corrodinj 
cares which weigh down the spirits and often bring 
on premature old age, the condition of heads of 
families do not perhaps matenally differ in any 
part of our country. But, I repeat, the dif 
ference is very great between the menials of fjimi- 
lies in the free and in the slave States, and 
this difference is greatly in favor of the slaves of 
the South. The one — especially in the cities — is 
often oppressed by a grinding poverty, and an 



OF SLAVERY. 225 

active discontent which is as corroding to the 
heart as it is dangerous to the state ; Avliilst the 
other is a stranger, for the most part, to real want 
— is free from painful cares, contented and cheer- 
ful in his condition — adding daily to the progress of 
civihzation and the permanency of the government. 
The emancipation and removal to Africa of those 
whose progress in civihzation has so far developed 
their minds as to constitute them exceptions to *"' 
this remark, for the reason that they are by their 
moral condition fitted for a higher form of civil 
freedom, may be allowed as the voluntary act of 
the owner. But all other schemes of emancipa- 
tion, whether immediate or gradual, are totally 
inadmissible. For if successful, for the reason 
that they cannot share social equality with the 
whites, they sink in the scale of civilization, and 
become a nuisance in the community requiring 
abatement ; and if the scheme should prove a fail- 
ure, the result of the effort can only be, as we 
have seen, to accumulate large bodies of slaves 
within small districts of country, cut them off 
from a more direct contact with civilization, and 
arrest their progress in improvement. N^o : eman- 
cipation in the popular sense offers no reUef to any : 
of the evils, real or imaginary, of African slavery 
in America; but rather aggravates all that now 
exist, and threatens to multiply them a thousand- 
10* 



226 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

fold. If any in the whole country be moved with 
sympathy for the race — as many think themselves 
to be — let them diffuse the chanties of a pure gos- 
pel through the whole extent of our country. No 
field Avas ever more '^ white to the harvest/' and 
none perhaps in which laborers could be employed 
to greater advantage in the cause of humanity. 
They will promote a charity which shall save the 
country from discord and civil war. They will 
give efficiency to those precepts of the Scriptures 
which enjoin the duties of masters and slaves. 
By doing this they will lighten the task of mas- 
ters, and, at the sam.e time, interest them more 
deeply in all that concerns the w^elfare of the slave. 
They will greatly improve the physical comfort of 
the slaves, and, Avhat is of flir greater importance, 
they wiil develop their moral natures, and therein 
add to their present cheerful and contented state, 
the enjoyment of that religion wdiich, as it fits 
them for the higher walks of life on eartli, at the 
same time fits them for the rest of heaven. In a 
word, they w^ill effect all that the most devoted 
friend of the slave can reasonably desire. For in 
this state of advanced progress, whatever modifi- 
cation of the system or change in either the con- 
dition or location of the race may be demanded by 
sound principles, will be readily adopted, and as 
peaceably efiected. Thus the long-disputed prob- 



OF SLAVERY. 227 

lem of emancipation will be found to solve itself 
But instead of this active and efficient service in 
the cause of humanity, to stand aloof and pro- 
nounce silly and sluggish invectives — for such 
they really are — against the South, for not follow- 
ing the example of certain Northern States in 
manumitting their slaves, — which, by the way, we 
have shown they never did to any matei'ial ex- 
tent, — is calculated only to produce an irritation 
which must result in the most incurable preju- 
dices. These invectives are often founded upon 
certain abstract principles of political philosophy 
which are usually misunderstood, and still more 
frequently misapplied to the South. Such men, 
together with the nature and results of their 
labors, are graphically described by the Apostle 
Paul, as ^' proud, knowing nothing, but doting 
about questions and strifes of words, whereof 
Cometh envy, strife, raihngs, evil-surmisings, per- 
verse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and 
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is god- 
liness." The wdiole paragraph from which this 
quotation is made — 1 Tim. vi. 1-5 — is commended 
to particular attention. And I submit, that if 
the apostle understood the subject of domestic 
slavery, either as a philosophical or a practical 
question, the class of men now engaged in agitat- 
ing our country on the subject do not ! 



228 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE XI. 

TEACHING THE SLAVES TO READ AND WRITE. 

Superiors frequently neglect inferiors — The policy of the South 
vindicated by necessity — The results that would follow an 
attempt to establish a system for instructing the blacks in 
letters, and those which would follow the establishment of such 
a system — The domestic element of the system of slavery in the 
Southern States affords the means for their improvement 
adapted to their condition and the circumstances of the country: 
it affords the natural, the safe, and the effectual means of the 
intellectual and moral elevation of the race — The prospects of 
the Africans in this country, and their final removal to Africa — • 
The country never will be entirely rid of them — The Southern 
policy wise and humane. 

One point remains to be considered to complete 
a full and candid view of the institution of domes- 
tic slavery. 

It is erroneously said that '^ we 7ceej) the Afri- 
can in a state of barbarism, and then plead that 
barbarism in vindication of our policy." 

Every thing is liable to abuse. I know that 
there are instances in the South of great neglect 



OF SLAVERY. 229 

of the slaves, both of their moral and physical 
condition. The same may be said of individuals 
at the North. Superiors often neglect their infe- 
riors, and that, in many instances, to a very cul- 
pable degree. I know no efficient remedy for 
this, but that which the diffusion of a pure Chris- 
tianity is calculated to afford. If any complain 
of these neglects in a captious spirit, we have 
nothing to hope from them. But from those who 
claim to be sincere, we have a right to expect an 
active and hearty cooperation in diffusing Chris- 
tianity, as the only thing calculated to afford a 
remedy. 

But it is said that a feature of the system, as 
established by law, necessarily produces this re- 
sult : that is, the law which excludes the African 
from the benefits of school instruction. 

The term necemarily is in this instance certainly 
misapplied. The barbarism in question is not the 
result of this law, necessarily^ or otherwise. It 
existed originally. It still exists, and to a great 
extent, though greatly modified ; and in the pre- 
sent circumstances of the race, an authorized sys- 
tem of school instruction would cause it to con- 
tinue to exist, and perhaps in a much greater 
degree than it now does, and for a longer time 
than it promises to do under the present system. 
If this be so, it is the semi-barbarism that creates 



230 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

the necessity for the laii\ and not the law that 
makes the barbarism the necessary result. 

An unwieldy mass of semi-barbarism dwelling 
in the midst of a civihzed community, Avith wdiom 
they cannot amalgamate by intermarriage, will, at 
all times, require a peculiar system of appliances 
for their improvement, so as to make it consistent 
^Yith the common w^elflire. The principle of sla- 
very must, of course, be kept in vigorous opera- 
tion, and the means of improvement be wisely 
adapted to the state of the pupil. Otherwise, 
there may not only be a veiy improvident expen- 
diture of means, but the most disastrous results. 
The horn-book might be a valuable agent in the 
hands of a child, but the instruments and agents 
in a chemical laboratory might prove its ruin. 

Should the time ever arrive (wdiich in the 
opinion of some will be the case, at some distant 
day) wdien the progress of African civihzation will 
justify it ; and when an asylum in Africa is pro- 
vided for them — together Avith the means of their 
removal in large numbers — I have no doubt that 
a system of popular education would not only be 
indicated as proper, but afford one of the most 
brilliant fields for the display of public and of 
individual benevolence, that has ever yet presented 
itself in behalf of that degraded race. But what 
I have to say of this hypothesis is^ that if it ever 



OF SLAVERY. 231 

should, the generations — both North and South — 
that may then Kve, I have no doubt, will have 
both sagacity enough to perceive it, and benevo- 
lence enough to improve it to the mutual advan- 
tage of themselves and the African race. But it 
is very evident that neither of these conditions 
has been fulfilled as yet. In this state of things, 
it cannot be supposed that the Southern people 
are prepared for any enterprise of the kind. I 
cannot imagine that any public movement, having 
for its object the instruction of the blacks in read- 
ing and writing, could be made without involving 
tlie most disastrous results. 

Let us suppose that a majority in our legisla- 
tive councils were in favor of such a measure, and 
were actually to tax the people to support a sys- 
tem of primary education ibr the blacks : any man 
would certainly be excessively stupid vvdio would 
not allow that a minority would, at all times, (in 
the present state of public experience,) exist, who 
d(iemed the law sufficiently oppressive to justify 
repudiation and physical resistance. If this object 
w^ere sought to be accomplished by individual 
enterprise, the results could scarcely be less em- 
barrassing. This will readily appear ; for it would 
have to be effected either in the common schools 
of the country, or by the establishment of sepa- 
rate schools for the Africans. But I am not 



232 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

aware that the former is allowed to any materia] 
extent even in the free States, where certainly, 
if the scheme w^ere practicable, the free blacks 
might be educated in the same schools with the 
whites. The usage of civihzation, wdiich denies 
them a social footing in so many other respects, 
must, of course, so far deny them this privilege 
as to render the scheme mainly ineffectual in the 
accomplishment of good, or the usage is singularly 
inconsistent with itself 

And can it be supposed that such a scheme 
would operate better in the South, where the 
reasons against it are a thousand-fold stronger, 
growing out of the large number of the African 
IDopulation? Certainly nothing could be more 
Utopian than an enterprise of this kind. Public 
opinion would scarcely be sufficiently divided to 
justify even the wildest schemer in making a 
serious attempt to effect it. The latter plan might 
perhaps be attempted, but, on account of the evils 
it would involve, it would still be subject to im- 
passable objections. 

Slaves, though not owned by the poor, are held 
for the most part by farmers and planters whose 
pecuniary circumstances are what is called mode- 
rate. There are exceptions. Occasionally, they 
are held by men of wealth; but in the oldei 
States particularly, (and of these I speak from 



OF SLAVERY. 233 

personal knowledge,) the great mass of those who 
own them cannot be said, in any popular sense of 
the term, to be rich. Now, the habits of half- 
labor, as any Northern man would regard them, 
in which the slaves are usually indulged, would 
put it quite out of the power of most of slave- 
owners to afford the necessary support for such 
schools, however favorable they might be to the 
scheme. Withal, there is but little if any room 
to doubt that a great many, both among the rich 
as well as the poor, would oppose the measure, 
for what appeared to them reasons of sound 
policy. This would leave the scheme to be sup- 
ported entirely by the few rich men, whose benev- 
olence miaht lead them to overlook the strons; 
popuLir objections against it. It requires no par- 
ticular sagacity to foresee the practical mischiefs 
wdiich would attend the efforts of a few rich men 
who might attempt to override the popular feeling 
on a subject of this kind. Public opinion would 
put it down ! This would be the end of it in one 
direction, but not in another. 

The whole movement would be attended, from 
first to last, with an irritation of the public mind 
in the highest degree unfavorable, and, indeed, 
dangerous to the peace and prosperity of the 
commonwealth. All irritations of the public mind 
in regard to the blacks, it is well known, result 



234 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

injuriously to them, generally abridging them of 
their civil privileges and social comforts. In this 
instance, viewing the subject as a practical ques- 
tion, I cannot see that it would be attended Avith 
a single redeeming virtue, so far as the blacks are 
concerned. But to place it in the most favorable 
light, let us suppose that, by some means, one or 
the other of these plans had actually gone into 
operation — which, by the w^ay, can scarcely be 
conceived to be possible in the present state of 
society — and had already made a decided impres- 
sion upon the public mind of the Africans. Even 
in this case it w^ould still be liable to strong and 
impassable objections. It would be educating 
them in advance of their circumstances and pro- 
spects. In their circumstances, it would be even 
more objectionable than it could be to take the 
time and labor of a w^hite youth, which (we will 
also suppose) were required for the immediate 
support of himself and of those depending upon 
his labor, and educate him for the learned pur- 
suits of a Newton or a Macaulay, wdiilst at the 
same time, for causes beyond his control, he w^as 
doomed for the remainder of his days to work in 
the mines of Cornwall or Chesterfield, by the light 
of S\x Humphrey Davy's lamp ! Ko one of the 
important objects of so high an education is acces- 
sible to him. The least part of the objection to 



OF SLAVERY. 235 

such a course as this is, that it would be a use- 
less expenditure of time and labor. 

But the reason is much stronger in the case of 
the African. The civil offices are all closed agamst 
him. Xo one of the learned professions is open to 
him. The law of caste which forbids his amal- 
gamation bars him out from every thing of the 
kind. He is doomed to occupy, so long as he 
remains in the midst of a v\diite community, the 
position of an inferior. God himself has so ordered 
it. The bold line of distinction he has drawn 
between the races, is fully declarative of his will. 
He only can reverse the decree, ^* The Ethiopian 
cannot change his skin," any more than '-^ the 
leopard can change his spots." In this state of 
flicts, w^ould not the public mind — whose decisions 
must be authoritative in the settlement of such a 
question — very naturally inquire for the good 
that it was thought might result from so material 
a change in the circumstances of the institution ? 
And is it not obvious that no answer could be 
given that would insure satisfaction ? No power 
of eloquence with which it is competent to enforce 
the claims of education, could possibly move the 
public mind from the sober conviction that the 
advantages and privileges of education, so neces- 
sary to a state of civil liberty, and so appropriate 
in other respects to that state, could not, with any 



236 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

degree of propriety, be demanded in behalf of a 
necessary condition of slavery ! 

Thus far, the principles of political economy, 
alone considered, would, in the public estimation, 
fully settle this question. But this is not all 
The question has much graver aspects than money 
can possibly give it. The effect of generally en- 
listing the African mind in Kterary pursuits and 
inquiries, is too obvious either to be overlooked 
or slightly regarded. A state of popular dis- 
quietude must inevitably result, and this, too, at 
a time when the door of Providence remains effec- 
tually closed against his release from slavery and 
his removal to Africa. This disquietude could not 
fliil to lead to many fanatical and fruitless attempts 
to effect a change in the political condition of the 
race. Such a state of popular solicitude among 
the blacks would of course be followed by much 
greater sohcitude and even irritation on the part 
of the whites. So potent a cause would certainly 
precipitate its appropriate results. The oppressive 
and, in some respects, the savage law^s by which 
ancient Sparta, Greece, and Home governed their 
slaves — some of Avhom were highly educated men 
— would of necessity be reenacted in this country. 
Our present mild form of slavery would be substi- 
tuted by a form of oppression unknown to the 
history of this country, even in the most barbar- 



OF SLAVERY. 237 

ous condition of the African race. And thus 
would end the chapter of abohtion benevolence in 
behalf of the African race in the United States. 

In view of these considerations, the pohcy of 
the South on this subject, allow me to affirm, is 
founded no less in benevolence to the African and 
the peace of the commonwealth, than in the 
soundest principles of political economy. It relies 
upon the domestic element of the system of slavery, 
as the natural J the only mfe^ and ultimately the 
effectual means of the intellectual and moral eleva- 
tion of the African — so fir as any means can be 
effectual in the accomplishment of that object. 

1. It is the natural w^ay — that is, the way 
adapted to their condition as an inferior and natur- 
ally distinct race, who, both on account of the 
physical facts which constitute them a distinct 
race, and the low state of civihzation (if it may be 
called civilization at all) wdiich they have yet been 
able to attain, should not be admitted to a social 
footing by intermarriage with the superior race. 

In a former lecture, it was demonstrated that 
an uncivilized race, dwelling in the midst of a civil- 
ized community, had no light to social equality, 
and, for a still stronger reason, no right to political 
sovereignty in such a community. It was also 
shown that their natural rights entitled them to 
frotectioiK and reasonable provision for their im- 



238 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

provement^ and, as in the case of minors, to such 
^' authoritative controV as is best calculated to 
preserve their power of self-action — their power 
of volition — from that enslavement to the baser 
passions of depraved nature, which is destructive 
of all true liberty, and the most degraded and 
ruinous form of slavery — subjection to the devil; 
in comparison with which, a physical subjection to 
a fellow-man, in civilized life, with a power, defined 
by law, only to control his time and labor to a 
reasonable extent, is a paradise. These — we of 
the South say — are their natural rights — the good 
to wdiich they are entitled in virtue of their 
humanity. Now as these rights are in their 
nature relative, they imply the duijj on the part 
of the civilized race amongst whom, in the provi- 
dence of God, they dwell, to afford them both the 
protection and control in question. Their duty, in 
these respects, is clearly reciprocal with the rights 
of the Africans. They can no more omit these 
duties to the blacks with impunity, than they can 
do so to the minors and imbeciles of their own 
race. Now what form of control will more natur- 
ally or appropriately fulfil the conditions of this 
problem ? They are to exercise the sovereign con- 
trol : all political freedom is denied the blacks by 
their condition. They have no right to it. It is 
not, to them, the essential good. Their rights lie, 



OF SLAVERY. 239 

as in the case of imbeciles of any other race, in 
being governed, not in governing themselveSj in 
those matters which constitnte the objects of civil 
aovernment. To exercise this sovereign control 
of the blacks, and at the same time afford them 
the protection and imjjy^ovement which are appro- 
priate to a necessary condition of slavery, or state 
of subjection to such sovereign control, is the 
solemn didi/ of the superior race. The position 
here advocated is, that the domestic element of the 
present system in operation amongst us, affords a 
more perfect guaranty that all the conditions of 
this problem will be fulfilled, than could be effected 
by any other system, or by the proposed modifi- 
cation of the present system. The element in 
question constitutes for them an invaluable school 
of instruction — a school in which both the mental 
and moral nature is developed. A school for the 
formal instruction of the bhicks in letters, we have 
seen would operate only to defeat the end proposed 
by its establishment. To govern and protect 
them, and at the same time make them useful to 
themselves and to society, by a system of military 
police, could find but few if any advocates, even 
among the visionary. But what more natural 
than to accomplish all these objects, by a system 
which distributes them in small numbers through 
the different fiimihes of civilized life ? Here thev 



240 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

are brouaht into immediate connection with much 
that is calculated to develop the mind, cultivate 
the moral sense, and train the will to the habit of 
obedience to its high behests. The law confers 
upon the head of the family the same right to 
direct and appropriate the time and labor of the 
blacks, that he enjoys in the case of his children — 
and no more. The period of time to which this 
authority extends, differs in the one case from 
that of the other ; but this is the only difference 
known to the law. Great abuses of this authority 
sometimes occur in the case of the blacks ; but the 
same is occasionally true of parental authority in 
all parts of the civihzed world. The former may 
furnish a fit theme for the perverted genius of 
Mrs. Harriet Stowe. The fruit of such a genius 
may have a poetry — of its kind ; but it can lay 
claim to neither philosophy nor common sense. 
The same force of logic which is hurled against 
the authority of the master, rakes the authority 
of the parent in the line of its fire, with an effect 
no less destructive. Both are equally necessary ; 
both are equally protected by law ; and both are 
open to great abuses. The poetry which invests 
these abuses Avith the show of argument ngainst 
the authority of the master may cater to the cor- 
rupt taste of both the '"great vulgar" and the 
" little vulear ;" but it is the same cormorant 



OF SLAVERY. 241 

appetite which is fed, that leads the 7nere ^* readers 
and cipherers" of the land to turn aside from 
those valuable productions so appropriate to their 
real vrants, and delight themselves in tragic stories 
of murder, arson, and rape, from the perusal of 
which they rise with passions inflamed to crusade 
against the morals of society. Christianity sternly 
rebukes the abuses complained of; and equally 
condemns that perversion of genius which employs 
those abuses to corrupt the pubhc taste and the 
public morals. As far as Christianity prevails, the 
civil law wdiich requires humanity in the exercise 
of domestic authority, no less in the case of the 
slave than in the case of the child or the apprentice, 
is sanctioned, and, in cases demanding it, is duly 
enforced by public opinion and sentiment. In all 
com.munities in which Christianity is the presiding 
influence, African slavery must, therefore, be a 
mild form of domestic servitude. It even contri- 
butes in a measure to a knowled2:e of letters. 
Many servants are raised by their associations 
v/ith civihzed life to a desire to read the word of 
God. The domestic relation often supphes them 
w^ith the means of gratifying this desire. ]\iany 
pious slaves read the word of God as a part of 
their flxmily worship ; and instances are not want- 
ing of those of wdiom it may be said, they " are 
mighty in the Scriptures." Such are the ten- 
U 



242 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

dencies and capabilities of domestic slavery as a 
system recognized by law ; and apart from those 
abuses which all good men deplore — no less in the 
case of the slave than in the case of the child and 
the apprentice, wdio are no further protected from 
inhumanity by the provisions of law than is the 
slave. Hence this system is the natural w^ay of 
protecting, improving, and governing the African 
for the mutual benefit of society. It is evidently 
indicated by Providence. No other can be appro- 
priate to a mass of population who can never be 
politically free in our midst, for the reason that, 
in the order of Divine Providence, they never can 
amalgamate with us. But it is, 

2. The only safe way. 

It is slow, it is true, but it is for that reason 
only the more safe. Its effects are, for the most 
part, without observation. Hence, it produces no 
irritation of the public mind. It develops the law 
of sympathy on both sides in the ratio in which 
it unfolds the intellectual and moral nature of the 
subordinate race. It raises no visionary and 
fanatical hopes in the one, nor excites any mor- 
bid fears in the other. I say, its results march 
forvrard without observation. A revenue tariff, 
for example, affords a full support to the govern- 
ment by a virtual tax upon the pockets of the 
people ; and it does this at a time when they 



OP SLAVERY. 243 

would not for a moment consent to pay that tax. 
if it were made a direct tax, to be collected by the 
authority of an exciseman. So, without observa- j 
tion, the domestic element of slavery is accom- 
plishing its results, with equal safety. Or, more 
in point, perhaps, it is like the " kingdom of 
heaven," which " comes without observation." 
The " kingdom of heaven," in the form of princi- 
2oles, diffuses itself through the mass of society, . 
and ultimately works, as a legitimate result, the 
boldest political revolutions. But by diffusing it- 
self quietly, or " without observation," it prepares 
the pubhc mind for its changes in the exact ratio 
in which it effects them ; and thus accomphshes 
that, by the popular will, the attempt to do which 
in another Vv-ay would have razed the founda- 
tions of civil society, and closed the history of 
civilization for ages to come. So, this divine 
agent — for such I must consider it — is working 
constant changes. It is daily modifying the fea- 
tures of the system, and so developing the moral 
character of the African, as to throw him up, by 
successive steps, higher and still higher on (lie 
scale of civihzation. But this it does so quietly, 
because naturally, that it actually works a specifio 
result on the masters, and accomphshes its objects 
by the consent of their wills and their own active 
cooperation. 



244 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

All this, we see, is effected with entire safety. 
Even in those instances — and they are numerous 
— in which the working of the domestic element 
of the system results in teaching the African to 
read, we are not aw^are that it invoh^es, or even 
threatens, society, with any of those evils which 
it is so obvious a more formal system of school 
instruction would precipitate. Slaves wdio are 
below a certain point in civihzation, cannot be 
induced, by any of the influences employed by 
young masters and mistresses, (and they are often 
specific,) to deal with the task of learning to read. 
Only those who are so for raised in the scale of 
civilization as to have awakened in them a hal- 
lowed desire to learn more of the will of God, and 
their duty as Christians, ever avail themselves of 
the opportunities afforded them by their domestic 
relations, and learn to read. These devote a por- 
tion of their spare hours to reading the Bible ; and 
a pious African, who reads his Bible, is always 
known and appreciated as a better servant, as 
w^ell as a better man. He enjoys the respect and 
confidence of his owner, and is highly appreciated 
by all the family. I have often known the prayer 
of such a slave to be more relied on in times of 
domestic affliction than that of any minister whose 
services could be commanded. 

But, move than this, the results which have 



OF SLAVERY. 245 

been bronsrht to view are not onlv effected with 
safety, but also vnth. a high degree of satisfliction 
to the owners. Everywhere families may be met 
with, who will call your attention with hallovv'ed 
satisfjiction to what they have done for the im- 
provement or comfort of their slaves. But it will 
be found that this very good is just such that if 
you had attempted to effect it by other means 
than the quiet influences of the domestic element 
of this system, you would, by a universal law 
of our nature — self-preservation — have converted 
each of those families into a kind of Roman 
amphitheatre, and made the unhappy slaves the 
chief victims of your rashness. Hence, it is not 
without the gravest reasons that the intelligence 
of the South rebukes the fanatical spirit of abo- 
litionists, with the most solemn assurances that 
they know not the things whereof they speak, 
when they urge upon the Southern people the 
duty of schooling and emancipating their slaves. 

3. But I also afnrm that the feature of the sys- 
tem under consideration will ultimately effect the y 
moral elevation of the African, so far as any means 
can be effectual in the accomplishment of this 
object, whilst he remains in the bosom of a com- 
munit}^ with which he cannot be admitted to a 
social footing. 



246 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

So unobserved is the influence of this ehmerit, 
that I find but few, even among inteUigent and 
practical men, who, before their attention is par- 
ticularl}^ called to the subject, are aware of what 
it has already effected. But in numerous pubhc 
addresses in the States of Virginia and North 
Carolina, I have appealed to the oldest and most 
observant men in large assemblies, and in no in- 
stance have I met with a single individual who 
did not concur in my statement that the present 
race of Africans were very materially improved, 
both in their moral and physical condition, above 
what they were some twenty or forty years ago, 
and that the change has been much greater with 
the slaves than with the free colored population. 
Now, it is obvious that this improvement will con- 
tinue to go on, and in an increasing ratio. On 
the same principle that labor applied to capital 
is productive in an increasing ratio, the means in 
operation for the improvement of the African will 
greatly accelerate his progress. Hence, some 
future period will present a generation of Africans 
liighly improved above what they are now. Con- 
sequently, there will arrive, at some distant day, 
a period at which this people will have reached 
that point of moral progress at which they will be 
capable of appreciating, and, in a suitable fliy sicca 



OF SLAVE SY. 247 

condition, adapting them to social cqnalitfj, will be 
prepared to occupy and wisely impro^-e, the privi- 
leges of civil liberty. 

It is on this principle that the laws of all civil- 
ized States confer the privilege of political free- 
dom on the descendants of their free citizens. At 
the age of twenty-one. they are made politically 
free. The law assumes, w^hat is found generally 
to be true, that previously to this period they are 
incapable of using this privilege to the advantage 
of themselves and of the community ; but that, at 
this age, their capacities are sufficiently developed 
to make a proper use of this privilege ; and as 
neither their physical condition nor any accidents 
of their position operate as a bar to their social 
equality wdth other free citizens, it is conferred on 
them. By analogy, therefore, we may infer, that 
wd.ien the African in America shall have reached 
a similar moral state, and w'hen his physical con- 
dition and the accidents of his position shall fit 
him for social equahty with other free citizens, 
a similar right of political freedom will inure to 
him. It will be to him the right — that is, the good 
— which ought to be allowed him. To withhold 
it would be despotism. Now, the former con- 
dition of this problem, his moral state in this 
country at some future day may fulfil ; but that 
the latter can never be fulfdled in this country is 



l- 



2-r8 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

obvious from the facts and reasonings already 
adduced. But when in future tune his state shall 
fulfil the first condition, it is a grave question 
which we may safely anticipate, w^hether it whII 
not be the duty of the superior race amongst 
wdiom the Africans now dwell, to remove them to 
a land Avhere they can enjoy social equality. We 
hazard nothing in deciding this question in the 
affirmative. E^ights and duties are reciprocal. 
Then wdiatever it shall be the ridit of the African 
to claim of their superiors, it will be their duty to 
confer. That they would be entitled to removal 
in large numbers, w^iil appear — 1. They will have 
contributed largely to develop the resources of 
the country, as the price of their civifization. 2. 
It would be to them the good, without which 
their civilization could but partially avail them. 
Hence, it would be the duty of their superiors to 
remove them in such numbers as their means of 
doing so might allow. But more than this, it would 
be a duty v/hich they owed themselves, even if 
they w^ere under no obhgations to the inferior 
race. For when a numerous population in our 
midst, though confessedly inferior, shall arise to 
the moral condition defined, the difficulties attend- 
ing their longer continuance in a state of slavery, 
domestic or otherwise, will be far too great to 
justify the experiment. 



OF SLAVERY. 249 

Hence I have long thought that there was usu- 
ally a very unnecessary expenditure of symjDathy 
on behalf of certain enslaved nations of Europe, as 
well as the African of this country. A nation, the 
masses of whom have arisen to the moral condition 
of freedom, will assert their political rights ; and 
they will usually do it on practicable grounds. It 
is only at this point that they challenge public 
sympathy. For the mind was never before suffi- 
ciently free to make their situation an oppressive 
one, assuming that their rulers do not abuse their 
power. Before this period, their rights lay in 
being governed — not in governing. Political free- 
dom would be as dangerous intrusted to them, as 
a razor would be in the hands of a child, and 
should, for the same general reasons, be withheld 
from them. But withheld by whom? asks the 
philosophy of Dr. Way land. I answer, By those 
who have the intelligence to do it. Both the 
principle of benevolence and the law of recipro- 
city recjuire this ; and that intelligence which im- 
poses this duty, can never fail to supply the means 
for the restraint of brute force. 

Of the truth of this general position no people 
appear to be more sensible than the aristocracy of 
Europe. De Tocqueville clearly asserts this on 
their behalf, when he states that the object of his 
tour through the United States arose from the 
11* 



250 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

necessity of becoming acquainted with the spirit 
and character of democracy, that a proper direc- 
tion might be given to it in Europe. To direct it 
wisely might be done ; but to crush it was utterly 
impossible. Now if this author be correct in sup- 
posing that the spirit of democracy is truly awake 
among the masses of European population, and 
that consequently they are asserting their right to 
freedom — not from the abuse of legitimate power, 
which calls for reform merely, but from the power 
itself, which their improved moral and social con- 
dition has rendered no longer appropriate, and 
which, therefore, they now sensibly feel to be an 
oppression, calling for revolution — they are foiiov\^- 
ing the indications of nature, and there is no power 
in those nations that can shut the door of Provi- 
dence against them. An obedient child will cheer- 
fully submit to the reasonable though siringent 
desjjotism exercised over him by his parent, and 
even look back upon it in after hfe with the highest 
pleasure. Nevertheless, on reaching his maturity, 
he will refuse to submit to it any longer, and even 
feel an attempt to force it upon him as an oppres- 
sion too intolerable to be borne. So, by parity of 
reasoning, will the masses of these nations demand 
an entire abolition of the existing modes of govern- 
ment, and claim such as are adapted to their state 
of maturity. But, on the other hand, if the 



OF SLAVERY. 251 

movements in question are the work of only a few 
master-spirits who have mistaken the actual con- 
dition of the masses, who have not yet risen to 
the moral condition of freedom, they will be found 
to be fighting against God. The door of his provi- 
dence is closed against them. There are no means 
in the compass of their power by which they can 
force an entrance through this door. They may 
shed oceans of blood, but it shall not avail. So, 
in the former case, the aristocracy may exhaust 
alike their treasures and their diplomatic resources, 
but it can only be to fdl the land with desolation 
and mourning. The enhghtened popular mind 
and will must prevail. "Verily," a premature 
resistance in either case " has its reward" — great 
suffering, and a vast accumulation of guilt, but not 
success. 

These principles are not without their applica- 
tion to the Africans in this country. Should the 
remote period arrive when the state of the Afri- 
cans fulfds the first condition of the problem laid 
down, they will certainly feel their political condi- 
tion in this country to be an oppressive one, and, 
if necessary, assert their right to remove. I say, 
issert their right to remove ; for in the mental 
condition assumed, they would have far too much 
good sense to do what many less quahfied to judge 
than they would then be have done — ask for polir 



252 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

tical equality amongst a people with whom they 
could never be on a footing of social equality. I 
am equally satisfied that they would be under no 
necessity to ask this. The intelligence and virtue, 
no less than the interest, of that age, will forestall 
such a necessity, by the measures which justice 
and humanity will dictate as proper to meet the 
circumstances of the case. 

For my own part, I have no doubt that, under 
that wise superintending Providence which has so 
signally marked the progress of African civiliza- 
tion, by introducing so large a portion of the race 
into this country, that distant day, when it arrives, 
will provide for itself. Anxious solicitude on the 
part of the present age is not demanded. Neither 
the intelligence nor the benevolence of that remote 
age will be unequal to the task of providing for 
the necessities of its times. Already, indeed, 
" coming events cast their shadows before." The 
elements have been long combining, both to usher 
in and to dispose of those events. The domestic 
element of slavery is, as we have seen, quietly 
and effectually doing its work. God is raising up 
a rast government on the coast of Africa, which 
promises to reach a respectable station among the 
civilized nations of the earth — in moral and physi- 
cal resources. In the progress of events, there is 
no ground to doubt that the abolition spirit, abroad 



OF SLAVERY. 25S 

in so large a portion of our country, will have had 
its day, and run its course through all the usual 
stages and johases of fanaticism, and, giving place 
to a sounder philanthropy and a purer benevolence, 
those who now advocate it will be prepared to 
unite with the philosophy of the South, and avail- 
ing themselves of the vast resources of this great 
country, and of those of the new government in 
Africa, will transport large numbers to a com- 
munity in wdiich their social equality will enable 
them to enjoy the freedom for which they were 
fitted in this country. Many of those who remain 
wdll, no doubt, amalgamate w^ith the whites, how- 
ever it may be in violation of the laws of civiliza- 
tion. Those barriers which free-soiiism is now 
erecting on our Southern border, w^ill ultimately 
yield to a sounder policy, and many of our slaves 
wall find their way to the remote South, where the 
state of civihzation will admit of a more general 
amalgamation, and be lost in the Mexican races ; 
whilst the remainder — perhaps a large number — 
will continue in the United States, but in a highly 
improved condition, and under a form of civil 
government which will not be felt by them as a 
political oppression, and continue to bless the 
country. I have no idea that the race vrill ever 
become extinct in this country, or cease to exist 
under a subordinate government of some kind. 



254 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

I would not claim entire accuracy for these 
views of the distant future ; but of their general 
accuracy I have no doubt. Future history Vv^ill, 
doubtless, challenge the gratitude of the Christian 
world for that wonderful providence by which the 
residence of the African in this country was made 
as the sojourn of Joseph in Egypt. As God sent 
him before his brethren '^ to preserve hfe," so it 
w^ill be found that he permitted the introduction 
of the pagan African into this country, that he 
might be raised by contact with civiHzation, re- 
deemed by the genius of the gospel, and returned 
to bless his kindred and his country. Thus all 
Africa shall, sooner or later, share the blessings 
of civihzation and religion. I am not able to see 
any thing that can or will embarrass the progress 
of this great Avork, but the spirit of a premature 
abolition. The doctrines of emancipation and 
school instruction may keep up an irritated state 
of the public mind, that must act as a serious 
check to the civilizing tendencies of the domestic 
element of the system ; for the long-continued 
agitation of these questions may excite fanatical 
aspirants to attempt to pass limits which God has 
declared to be impassable — that is, to procure 
political freedom for a people Avho are not prepared 
for it, and that in the midst of another people with 
whom they can never generally amalgamate. All 



OF SLAVERY. 255 

attempts of this sort, it is well known, are ex- 
tremely hurtful to the pro2Tess of the African in 
civilization. Every consideration, therefore, of 
policy and of humanity forbids that these doctrines 
should receive the siioiitest encourafrement from 
an enlightened people. The race is not prepared 
for the operation of either of these schemes. No 
better evidence need be rec[uired by those not 
personally acquainted with the character of the 
Africans, than the flict that they have never once i/^ 
attempted to assert a right to political freedom. 
The fact that, nowhere throughout the Southern 
States, can it be said of even a respectable minor- 
ity of the race, that they have given the slightest 
indication of such a disposition, is proof that they 
have not yet risen to that mental state, and hence 
are not entitled to the political privileges Avhich 
are appropriate to it. It is vain to point to the 
few attempts at local insurrection which have 
occurred. The highest conception which the 
masses have ever yet formed of political freedom 
is simply liberty to do nothing. To win this cher- / 
ished object of harharism — not of civilization — a 
bare handful, on a few occasions, have concocted 
plans as hopeless as the spirit in which they were 
conceived was barbarian, and as visionary as the 
dreams of Miller that he could make an intelli- 
gent Christian people believe his vagaries ; or the 



256 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

leaders of the Mormon folly and wickedness, that 
they could impose their grossly stupid imposture 
upon the civilized world. 

In view, therefore, of these facts and reasonings, 
we conclude that the Southern people are not 
obnoxious to the charge of keeping the Africans 
in a state of barbarism, by their policy, either on 
the subject of emancipation or of school instruc- 
tion ; but that they are following the indications 
of Divine Providence, and serving the cause of 
humanity in the civilization of the African in 
America, and the redemption of his fatherland. 



OF SLAYERY. 257 



LECTURE XII. 

THE CONSERVATIVE INFLUENCE OF THE AFRICAN POPU- 
LATION OF THE SOUTH. 

Preliminary remarks — American party — The present and pro- 
spective condition of our country — The large number of voters 
in the free-soil States who will be under a foreign influence, 
political and religious, inducing them to discard the Bible and 
the right of private judgment — The freedom of the Southern 
States from this anti-Christian a.nd anti-republican influence — 
The presence of the African race in the Southern States secures 
them this advantage — The unpatriotic policy of free-soilism 

We have seen that nowhere throughout the 
South have the masses of our African population 
given evidence of the first intelh'gent conception 
of pohtical freedom. As to insurrections, we are 
freer from their disturbing: influences than are the 
communities of many of the Northern States from 
the progress of a no less dangerous influence — the 
agrarian spirit which pervades a somewhat similar 
portion of society. We of the South fear them 
less; and we have less cause to fear them. On 



258 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

this score they make a useless expenditure of 
sympathy on our behalf. It may be demon- 
strated that; v/ithout a singular interposition of 
Divine Providence, the South (using the term, as 
I generally do, for all those States which main- 
tain the system of domestic slavery) will, ere 
long, be called upon to protect the liberties of the 
North from the progress of agrarianism, whilst 
there is not the remotest probabihty that these 
will ever be called on to protect the South from 
the insurrectionary movements of their blacks. 
I repeat — no ! no people in the vv^hole country 
who fill the menial ofhces of society are more 
contented than our blacks, or as much so. 
There are none who less feel their condition to be 
oppressive, or vv^ho have as little cause to feel it so. 

In discussing the proposition enunciated, it is 
proper to premise, that if I should be found to 
agree to any extent with the ^•'American party," 
whose ^* councils" are now attracting so much 
attention, as to the accumulation of a dangerous 
influence in the country, I find the chief remedy 
(whatever may or may not be true of those pro- 
posed by this party) in a providential arrange- 
ment Avhich seems not so much to have engaged 
public attention. 

I propose to submit a brief sketch of the 
present and prospective condition of our country. 



OF SLAVERY. 259 

We live in a country of vast geographical ex- 
tent. A large portion of it is uninhabited. It is, 
however, rapidly filling up. Immigrants from 
every section of the civilized world are rapidly 
arriving in our eastern cities, and spreading to 
remote sections of our republic : men of every 
conceivable variety of taste, disposition, and opin- 
ion, both in politics and in religion. The fertihty 
and abundance of our soil, and the variety of our 
staple articles of produce, have attracted universal 
activity and enterprise. To compare the civilized 
world to one vast city, our republic seems destined 
to become the great market or business-street of 
it. Here, all is bustle and activity. Nowhere on 
the face of the globe is so much energy of charac- 
ter displayed. No attentive observer can fail to 
perceive the tendency of all this to call off the 
mind from tJiose moral and intellectual pursuits 
that so eminently fit men for the sober duties of 
life and the feUcities of heaven. The public mind 
is already kept in a state of most unnatural ex- 
citement, stimulated in the hidiest deerree to the 
pursuits of wealth and political distinction, to the 
almost entire neglect of every other interest. 
This is daily becoming the supreme attraction, to 
which the popular impulse yields as readily as the 
unfortunate ship obeys the resistless circles of the 
maelstrom. 



260 PHILOSOPHY AND PP AC TICS 

Thus flir, it is trne, we have succeeded to " lay 
that broad foundation of modern society which 
promises the noble superstructure of rational 
liberty. But regarding the tendencies of this 
restless people^ looking at the growth of our own 
improvidence, and at the copious additions which 
overstocked and perishing Europe is daily sending 
us, in multiplied forms of ignorance and super- 
stition, insomuch that in many respects in our 
Northern States our republican fabric is fast 
changing and passing away before our very eyes, 
who can exult in the certainty of success ! Who 
will not despair, except so far as he may be 
san2;uine that a tone and enera'v of moral effort 
is put forth, equal to that which achieved our 
national liberties ! For if this be not done, in a 
day we may go down into hopeless bondage ! 
The physical battle of our liberties has been 
fought and won, and we are fast rushing up to 
unparalleled eminence ; but from this dizzy 
height, if we be not sustained by some conser^'a- 
tive power, we shall go down in a moment to the 
degradation of slavery. For let it be remem- 
bered that whilst liberty may be achieved by the 
sword, it cannot be maintained by the sword. 
Enlightened principles and moral excellence alone 
can maintain the liberty that force achieves." 

I say nothing of that large class of foreign 



OF SLAVERY. 261 

population whose education and pecuniary re- 
sources enable them to come among us from a 
choice of our institutions, and the other means of 
happiness which this great country alTords. I 
bid them all welcome. They add alike to the 
permanency and strength of our institutions. 
l\or do I say any thing against that unfortunate 
multitude which accompanies these, whose igno- 
rance and vice compel them, reluctantly or not, 
to seek their bread in our fruitful country. So 
far as we may be able to receive them, I rejoice 
that we have a home for them. But it is obvious 
that our safety can be found only in our ability 
to absorb them into our political body, and impart 
our character to them ; and in those providential 
arrangements which shall sustain us through the 
protracted process. Without these, there is no 
ground to hope for success. For what power is 
that which (in the language of another) '-has 
been fitly styled the ^terror of Europe' — the 
j)0wer that has sent earthquake after earthquake, 
rolling under the deep foundations of governments, 
till they have rocked to their basis, and tottered 
to their fall ? It is the order, or rather the mass 
of vicious ignorance and poverty which has there 
accumulated for ages." This maniac power must 
continue to work its extended desolations in 
Europe, except so far as it may be enervated by 



262 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

expanding on the wilderness of North America. 
It is fortunate for Europe that this enfeebhng 
process is rapidly going forward ; but it is most 
unfortunate for us that we are destined soon to 
concentrate a power which Europe is so happily 
expanding. We are destined, ere long, to become 
a great manufacturing, as well as commercial and 
agricultural people. Our condition is soon to con- 
dense millions into cities and manufacturing dis- 
tricts, where, as in Europe, from the class of 
population flowing in upon us, a distinct class of 
menial poverty will be formed, '* imbecile of mind, 
and inapt but for one employment."* 

Nor is this all. It la3''s no claim to prophetic 
honor to venture the prediction, that the youth of 
our country who shall survive the next half cen- 
tury, will witness that which many will not be- 
lieve, " though a man declare it unto them." 
But reasoning from the past, or from well-estab- 
lished principles of political economy, it is morally 
certain that our present population of twenty- 
three millions will then have swelled to near one 
hundred millions. ^'Agriculture, commerce, and 
manufactures will have expanded their resources 

'^ Some years ago, a pamphlet fell into my hands, written by 
some one whose name, if I ever knew it, I have forgotten. I 
think it likely that this language, or much of it, is to be credited 
to that pamphlet. 



OF SLAVERY. 263 

and powers of production to an inconceivable ex- 
tent. The various portions of our country will 
be linked together by railroads, canals," telegraphic 
wires, and by some other — God knows what ! — 
as yet undiscovered means of connection. Al- 
ready, the cities of our Atlantic coast converse 
freely, by means of "Hghtning post-boys," with 
their next-door neighbors — the cities of the great 
Mississippi valley ! '*' Flourishing cities are now 
lifting their spires in the hitherto pathless wilds 
of Iowa, Oregon," and California, and will soon be 
in telegraphic connection with those of the East. 
Who can doubt that in less than ten }'ears the 
prediction of an eminent son of Virginia, J. E. 
Heath, Esq., will be verified : '-American steam- 
ships from the cities of our Western coast shall 
strike off in the path of the setting sun, and fol- 
lowing that burning luminary where he dips his 
glowing axle in the waters of the Pacific, return 
in the short space of thirty or forty days, laden 
with the commerce and population of China, and 
the isles of the remotest West !"'^' 

Can any man doubt the political and commercial 
changes that will then follow throughout the civil- 
ized world ? But who can estimate the extent of 
these changes ? Who can tell the result upon the 

* Literary Messenger. 



26i PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

political and moral destiny of this great country? 
Who can tell the end of that commercial revolu- 
tion by which a large portion of the tea trade of 
China, now in the hands of that greatest of all 
monopolies — the British East India Company, con- 
tributing largely to the support of the British 
government — shall be transferred to American 
bottoms, and flow into this country through our 
cities on the Pacific coast ! Already the walls of 
pagan China have bowed to the thunder of British 
cannon, and the deep foundations of her ancient 
government are destined at no distant day to 
yield alike to American enterprise and American 
liberty. Thousands of her perishing population — 
indeed, already they come ! — shall, ere long, flow 
in from the West, and meet the vast tide of papal 
superstition and vice that has been long setting 
in from Europe on the east. I am free to own 
that I contemplate this period wdth profound 
amazem^ent ! I know not the extent of the vision 
that confounds me. And Avhen I turn my eyes to 
the canvas of Divine inspiration, and decipher its 
unerring pencillings, I cannot doubt that the 
strange elements that even novv^ are so rapidly 
combining, and that are soon to concentrate the 
maddened powers of pagan ignorance, and papal 
superstition and .vice, in th« heart of this repubhc, 
are, ere long, to make my native land the great 



OFSLAVERY. 266 

theatre of those eventfal battles — the conflicts of 
truth and error in both politics and religion — so 
graphically described in the apocalyptic vision of 
John. And as I believe in the truth of the pro- 
phecy, and confide in the promise of Heaven, I 
cannot doubt the result. But mark you, "the 
peril of our condition — the peril of that state of 
things on which our children may be but just 
entering !" This conflict is to be the more or less 
fierce, the more or less disastrous to those who 
shall immediately sustain its calamities, as they 
shall be the more or less prepared for it. And 
what are the great agencies that shall prepare us 
for a successful conflict ? What is it that shall give 
comparative mildness to this great moral and per- 
haps physical conflict that awaits our children, or 
the want of which shall arm it with all the terrors 
of a barbarous warfare ? But one answer can be 
given to these questions. The general education 
of the sovereigns of the land, and the conservative 
influence of our institutions, or perdition, is the 
alternative. 

Upon the importance of the great educational 
movement of the country, I need not remark just 
now ; nor need we notice in this connection the 
conservative influence of our free institutions, or 
rather the tendency of the great principle of lib- 
erty, (as embodied in our civil and religious insti- 
12 



266 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

tutions,) which, with all true Americans, is a kind 
of instinctive belief, to diffuse itself through the 
mass of society. The two together may justly be 
regarded as forming a bulwark of American hberty, 
upon which the intelligent mind of the country may 
repose with great confidence. But still, history 
scarcely leaves us room to doubt that a politico-reli' 
gious priesthood, firmly established in the supersti- 
tious devotions of a strong minority even oimenials^ 
who at the same time are pohtical sovereigns, pre- 
sents fearful odds in the strife of principles wdth 
the " man of sin." Nor need we be surprised at 
this. A large mass of our population — however 
they may constitute but a minority of the whole 
population — have been educated from their cradles 
in the firm behef that it is a sin, involving the 
damnation of the soul, to read God's word, or 
to exercise private judgment upon any matters 
which such a priesthood may choose to affirm are 
taught therein, and who are equally established in 
a superstitious opinion and feeling of devotion and 
submission, not only to its right to decide all 
such matters, but also its authority to punish 
w^ith the highest spiritual torments all who shall 
heretically disregard its decisions. This power has 
])roved itself an overmatch for the genius of liberty 
in the states of Europe. Thrones and kingdoms 
have fiillen before it. To this day the despots of 



OF SLAVERY. 267 

Europe hold their sceptres in virtue of a league 
with it. Louis Napoleon exercises despotic 
sway over a large portion of as free a people 
in their opinions and sentiments on all sub- 
jects without the range of priestly dictation and 
dogmatism as can be found on the globe. But 
how does he do it ? He crushed the measures of 
liberty in Italy, and restored the Pope to his 
throne. And why ? Not only because a republic 
in Italy would be a dangerous neighbor, but also 
because he needed the authority of the priesthood 
to enforce the politico-rehgious dogmas upon which 
alone his despotic throne could repose with safety ! 
Thus a large community who are among the most 
enlightened and devoted friends of liberty, are 
ruled by a grinding despotism ; and this is only 
an instance in which the genius of liberty is 
crushed and trodden under foot by the " man of 
sin." Education and the genius of liberty have 
done much in Europe, and are daily struggling 
against fearful odds ; and may do much more in 
this country to modify and restrain this power, 
but they are impotent to its destruction. It is, 
in itself, so entirely contradictory of all liberty, 
and at the same time so full of vitality, that God in 
mercy has only relieved the despair of the world 
by the assurance that he would destroy it. Thus 
Paul says : ''The man of sin^ who opposeth and 



268 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

exaltetli himself above all that is called God, or that 
is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple 
of God, shoioing himself that he is God — whom the 

LOKD SHALL CONSUME WITH THE SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH, 
AND SHALL DESTROY WITH THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS COM- 
ING." 2 Thess. ii. 1-12. The world has no hope 
of relief from the oppression of this nightmare of 
superstition, but that which is found in this promise 
of God, that the w^ord of his truth shall overthrow 
and utterly destroy this monster powder, which for 
so many ages has been the terror and the scourge 
of the civilized world. The Bible — the w^ord of 
God — freely circulated, read, and expounded, and 
freely judged of by all who read or hear, according 
io the dictates of their own judgments and con- 
iciences — this is the religion of Protestants ! in 
exact antasfonism to the teachins^s of the '^ man of 
sin.'' The triumph of the Bible is the overthrow 
of his power. 

Now, the Bible is not only being circulated, and 
its truths enforced from the pulpit, but a great 
many arrangements of Divine Providence are in 
constant operation, not only to secure the preva- 
lence of Bible truths in our land, but also to place 
these truths in such circumstances as shall secure 
the permanent establishment of civil and religious 
liberty. Of these arrangements of Divine Provi- 
dence, we may select as germane to the general 



' OF SLAVERY. 269 

subject of discussion, the conservative influence of 
the sydem of domestic slaverij. 

That providence of God, by which so large a 
number of the States of this Union have been 
supphed with a population who cannot be absorbed 
by the body politic, but must exist among us, and 
for so long a time, in a distinct and menial posi- 
tion, provided the means of safety to the whole 
Union in the coming conflict which is already 
awakening the fears of the country. If we do 
not greatly mistake the signs of the times, it is to 
these States that all eyes and all hopes will be 
turned as the great bulwarks of American liberty. 
The African race in these States will give them 
this advantage of position. 

Review the facts of the case. As to that class 
of population coming into the country with that 
liberty of choice which intelhgence and pecuniary 
means afford them, the whole land is before them, 
and few are more welcome than they, whatever 
may be their errors in rehgion. But relatively, 
they make but a small portion of the whole num- 
ber. The great mass of this coming population 
necessarily seek the menial offices of society as 
the only means of living. This evil is already 
sorely felt in some portions of our country ; and 
as our unoccupied lands shall be filled up by 
Western as well as Eastern immigration, this will 



270 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

be still more generally and deeply felt. For all 
these are absorbed by the body poHtic, and form 
a part of the sovereignty of the country. 

But what portion of our country is it which 
now suffers, and is chiefly threatened in future 
with this heavy calamity ? Not the South ! This 
is evident. Our menial offices are already occu- 
pied by a race which cannot be absorbed, and who 
therefore can never form a part of the sovereignty 
of the country. Hence, there is no room for the 
menials of either Europe or China. The door of 
Providence is closed against their admission. The 
foreign population which finds its way into the 
South are, for the most part, a valued and wel- 
come class of society. No : it is in the midst of 
the Northern States, and those new States which 
repudiate the African race, that these shoals of 
vice, superstition, and ignorance — these hordes of 
modern Canaanites — are gathering, " thick as the 
frogs and flies of Egypt." Upon these States, 
and not upon the South, this great and increasing 
calamity is to display its strength. Are they 
destined to control the iwimary schools to a great 
extent, from which they exclude the Bible, and 
educate a large mass of the population to abandon 
the inherent right of private judgment on all 
matters which the priesthood may please to define 
— whether correctly or not — as matters of re- 



OF SLAVERY. 271 

ligion : that is, to abandon those rights of con- 
science which are guaranteed to every citizen by 
the constitution of our country ? Ah'eady, many 
of these schools are thus controlled, and a large 
portion of the citizens are thus being educated in 
the city and State of New York, and other places ! 
But nothing of this sort can exist to any extent 
in the Southern States. So flir as popular educa- 
tion is promoted in these States, it must be 
strictly Protestant education — Protestant, at least, 
in its main feature : that is, every citizen brought 
up among us grows up in the educated belief that, 
whatever aid he may seek or derive from a gospel 
ministry, he is still individually and personally 
responsible to God and his country, for his opin- 
ions and his practices, both as to politics and re- 
ligion. He should, therefore, read, reflect, and 
judge for himself. No '^ man of sin," in the 
shape of pope, bishop, priest, minister, or preacher 
of the gospel, or with any other title, has author- 
ity to " oppose and exalt himself above all that is 
called God, or that is worshi/jped,'' by dispensing 
either political or religious beliefs ; " so that he, as 
God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself 
that he is God ;" enforcing his right to control the 
consciences of men, by severe spiritual and tem- 
poral penalties — reaching even to " anathema 
maranatha r No material portion of Southern 



272 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

sovereigns can ever grow up in such an utter 
abandonment of all liberty, whilst the African race 
shall fill the menial offices of society. All this, 
however, and perhaps much more, is reserved for 
those States which repudiate this race. And 
still further, Is all this calculated to corrupt the 
purity of elections, as it has done in many sections 
of New England and the State of New York, and 
eminently so in the cities of New York and Cin- 
cinnati ? — and is thfs evil also destined to reach 
the national Legislature, either directly, as the 
result of numerical strength, or indirectly, as the 
action of a powerful minority, holding the balance 
of power betAveen contending political parties, 
and, in either case, sooner or later, seriously 
threatening if not precipitating evils upon the 
whole country, of which the oppressions of many 
of the States of Europe now furnish us the mourn- 
ful examples ! But no such influence can ever 
reach, to any material extent, the ballot-boxes of 
the South. With an educated sovereignty, we 
have only to consummate our triumph over intem- 
perance, and our elections are at once fair expo- 
nents of the will of an enhghtened people. Our 
people may err in opinion, but, always right in 
sentiment, and with no motive to stay wrong, they 
may, in due time, be put right in opinion also. 
The Southern States may be labored by the 



OF SLAVERY. 273 

tempests that shall break upon them from other 
sources, but not from this, which its history in 
Europe shows to be the most terrible calamity 
that ever scourged humanity. AVith their ships 
w^ell trimmed and their sails well set, and both 
worked and governed by an educated sovereignty, 
it is morally impossible that they should founder 
in the open sea of free discussion. These States. 
therefore, will remain, and shall ever remain, 
through all this fierce conflict, free to settle the 
great quarrel of the country between light and 
darkness, between religion and a vile superstition ! 
Upon these States will devolve the^ duty of hold- 
ing the balance of power between these great con- 
tending forces, and of preserving the ark of 
American liberty in the politico-religious storms 
that are to sweep over the land, and shake the 
foundations of our confederacy. 

In view of all the facts, we are at no loss to 
account for the agrarian doctrines and organiza- 
tions which are already so common in the North- 
ern States, and which are essentially so entirely 
subversive of all true liberty. Nor are we at a 
loss to account for the fact that the Southern 
States have always, to the present time, stood 
forth as the authors and uniform expounders of 
the soundest democratic principles of republican 
freedom. They owe it, and will for ages to come 
12* 



27-i PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

continue to owe it, not so much to any superioi 
devotion to sound principles above that of their 
intelhgent and unbiased brethren of other States, 
but to the flict that only a small portion of their 
menial population are, or ever can be, sovereigns. 
The great mass of their menials belong to a dis- 
tinct and inferior race, who never can be absorbed, 
and who, therefore, are not and never can become 
sovereigns of the land. The conservative influ- 
ence, therefore, of the African race in the South- 
ern States, I set down as a fixed fact, for which, 
in the prospective condition of the country, we 
have abundant cause to be devoutly thankful to 
Almighty God. 

In view, therefore, of the condition of the Afri- 
cans themselves, as well as the calamities wdiich 
overhang the country, how idly do they talk who 
w^ould expel the Africans from these States ! How 
madly do they reason who, by a cordon of free- 
soil States, on the West and South, would shut 
up the Southern States — as if, wdth bolts and 
bars, they would cage a savage beast ! False 
philosophers ! Enemies alike to justice and hu- 
manity ! Worse than Nadab and Abihu, in the 
republic of Moses ! Kindred to Ahithophel and 
Judas, and, in later days, to Benedict Arnold ! 
The day will come — passing events cast their long 
''iihadows before" — when history will record the 



OF SLAVERY. 275 

civilization of all Africa, and the final solution of 
the problem, and the permanent establishment of 
American liberty. A sound philosophy will be at 
no loss to trace both one and the other to the 
agency, and that in no small degree, of that won- 
derful scheme of Divine Providence, by which so 
large a number of Africans were introduced into 
so many of the States of North America. Ay ! 
and long before that day, the North w^ill learn to 
do justice to their brethren of the South. When 
the fight shall wax w^arm, and the " battle-cry" 
shall be heard throughout all their coasts, then 
will it be seen and acknowledged that the Southern 
States — always great in the counsels of the nation 
— are always, and everywhere, the true friends 
and invincible supporters of Protestant freedom, 
or the rights of conscience ; and then shall they 
do justice to these States as the chief bulwarks of 
American liberty, and equal honor to that wonder- 
ful providence which has so signally marked their 
history, for good to the whole country, as well as 
to the continent of Africa. 



276 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 



LECTURE XIII. 

THE DUTY OF MASTERS TO SLAVES. 

" Masters, give unto your servants ((JoiJAotf , slaves) that which is just and equal, 
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." — CoL. iv. 1. 

The duty of masters and the rights of slaves reciprocal. 

1. The duty of masters to their slaves considered as ''their 
money" — in regard to working, resting, feeding, clothing, 
housing, and the employment of persons over them ; also to 
the sick and the aged. 

2. Their duty to their slaves considered as social beings. 
Punishments and the social principle discussed. 

3. Their duty to their slaves considered as religious beings. 
Public instruction on the Sabbath, and at other times, and 
the opportunity of attending. The employment of preach- 
ers, and the religious instruction of children. 

It has been shown in previous lectures that the 
principle of slavery accords fully with the doctrine 
of abstract rights, civil and social ; and that a sys- 
tem of domestic slavery in the United States is 
demanded by the circumstances of the African 
population in the country. But it by no means 
follows that the conduct of all masters, in the exer- 
cise of their functions as masters, is proper, any 



OF SLAYERY. 277 

more than that the conduct of all parents, or the 
owners of apprentices, is such as it should be. 
The opinion is entertained that the domestic gov- 
ernment of children does not more than approxi- 
mate propriety as a general thing; and that the 
government of apprentices and of African slaves 
falls far short of what is proper. In this lecture 
it is proposed to deal with the relations of masters 
to slaves, that is, the duties they owe them. The 
doctrine that the system of domestic slavery as- 
sumes that the slave is a '^ mere machine — a chat- 
tel," has been fully exploded. The Bible particu- 
larly regards the slave an accountable being. It 
requires him to yield a w^illing obedience to his 
master, and teaches him that such service is ac- 
cepted of the Lord as service done unto himself, 
Ephesians vi. 5-8 ; and in the 9 th verse, the mas- 
ter is required to " do the same things unto them, 
forbearing threatening : knowing that 3'our Master 
also is in heaven." And again, (Colossians iv. 1,) 
'' Masters, give unto your servants that which is 
just and equal." Hence, in the strictest sense, 
religion holds the scales of justice between masters 
and slaves. Each one is held to a strict account- 
ability for the faithful performance of his duty, 
the one to the other^ — " for there is no respect of 
persons with God." 

It behooves us, then, who are masters, or who 



27§ PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

expect to become masters, to inquire into the 
duties of this relation. The master who does not 
inform himself on this subject, and endeavor con- 
scientiously to do his duty, is strangely wanting 
in important elements of Christian character, and, 
indeed, even in some of those attributes which 
enter materially into the character of a good 
citizen. 

A most fanatical spirit is abroad in the land on 
the subject of domestic slavery. The inhumanity 
of masters at the South is greatly exaggerated. 
(Instances in which the institution of slavery is 
abused no doubt contribute to this excitement.) 
Even those who are deficient in the duties they 
ow^e their domestics and apprentices — quite as 
much so as is common at the South with the mas- 
ters of African slaves — lend a willing ear to poli- 
tical demagogues and fanatical party-leaders in 
their denunciations of the South. Want of sym- 
pathy for hired servants, and instances in w^hich 
they are overreached and oppressed beyond the 
means of legal redress, are as common in certain 
quarters as are the cases of inhumanity to the 
slaves at the South. But this does not help the 
matter. Evils of this kind are to be deplored 
whether they occur at* the North or the South. 
The injunction of the apostle reaches every case 
of the kind — " Masters, give unto your servants 



OF SLAVERY. 279 

that which is just and equal : knowing that ye 
also have a Master in heaven." 

But what may the apostle mean by this pre- 
cept? The view before taken of the right will 
justify a departure from the usual line of thought 
on this subject. To give any one that which is 
just is to confer upon him that which is his right. 
To give that which is just and equal, is a form of 
expression that may limit the term "just" to its 
legal sense, that is, confer on him all the rights 
guaranteed to him by law. There is a special 
necessity for this command in any state of society. 
For whatever advantages the law might confer on 
the slave, his subordinate relation, and the supe- 
rior position and authority of the master, will of 
necessity place it in his power to defeat the pro- 
visions of the law in favor of the slave. But the 
command goes farther than this : Give unto your 
servants that which is equal, equitable, that is, jus- 
tice in a moral sense, or that which is right — good 
in itself. Whatever provision the law might make 
for the benefit of the slave, as a slave, might be 
secured to him by his master, and yet many of his 
natural and acquired rights might be overlooked, and 
the claims of Christian charity annulled. To ful- 
fil the command, however, we must give the slave 
equity, as well as legal justice : we must do unto 
the slave what we would have the slave to do 



280 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

unto US, on a change of relations. It is needless 
to repeat the discussion of this topic in a former 
lecture. Suffice it to say, that the master is not 
required to give to his slave (any more than the 
parent is required to give to his child) whatever 
he might wish, but whatever justice and equity 
claim for him, that is, whatever is right or good in 
itself; or, if you please, accord to him all his 
natural and acquired rights, as a slave. For this 
is precisely that, and no more, to which the mas- 
ter would be entitled on a change of relations. 

We now meet the question — What are the 
rights of the slave ? The duties of the master 
are reciprocal of these. Those Avho believe, witt 
Channing, that the relation they sustain as mas- 
ters assumes that their slaves have no rights, we 
may consider are beyond the reach of reason. If 
the master owes any duties to his slave, it is be- 
cause the rights of the slave entitle him to the 
benefit of the faithful performance of these duties 
on the part of his master. No point is more fully 
settled in Scripture than this : masters are held 
to a strict accountabihty to God for the faithful 
performance of certain duties to their slaves. The 
Bible puts it beyond all dispute that " the master 
stands to his bond-servant, one bought with his 
money or born in his house, in a relation widely 
different from that which he sustains to the hired 



OF SLAVERY. 281 

servant, or the stranger within his gates, or the 
neighbor without them." And as he may be a 
good neighbor, and yet at fault as a husband and 
father, so he may be a good husband, a good 
father, and yet a bad master. 

The duties which the master owes the slave 
are as binding on the conscience as those which 
the slave ow^es the master. To neglect either 
involves the party so neglecting in sin. Indeed, 
the duties of the master are as binding as those 
of any relation in life. On many accounts, they 
are peculiarly solemn. They are duties owed to 
inferiors, and inferiors in a helpless condition. 
They appeal to the m.agnanimity of the master. 
He w^ho disregards this appeal, not only violates 
duty, but betrays a want of magnanimity, border- 
ing upon that meanness of spirit which dehghts 
to oppress an inferior, w^hilst it cowers before an 
equal. A brave man is always magnanimous, and 
a magnanimous man will rarely fail to respect the 
rights of the helpless. Guardianship, as well as 
authority, enters as an element into the idea of 
master. Masters are not only rulers, but protec- 
tors. If the servant is defrauded of his own, if 
his wants are not regarded and his grievances 
redressed, or he is otherwise oppressed, to whom 
can he complain ? True, his miseries are noi 
voiceless. His cries " enter into the ears of the 



/ 



282 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

Lord of sabaoth." But his only earthly appeal lies 
to his master. He has permitted or done this 
thing, and it is laid upon the conscience of the slave 
to submit, " not answering again." His master 
is his only earthly protector. His guaranty that 
his master will protect him, is that he too has a 
" Master in heaven," who is no respecter of per- 
sons, and that to him belongeth vengeance. 

According to principles established in the fourth 
and fifth lectures, the Africans of this country, in 
common wdth minors, imbeciles, and uncivilized 
persons, have a right to be governed and protected, 
and to such means of physical comfort and moral 
improvement as are necessary and compatible with 
their providential condition. That w^hich it is 
their right to have as slaves, it is the duty of 
masters to secure to them. Superior positions 
devolve higher and more important duties. The 
master who ignores these claims, and affects to be 
offended with any who may assert them on behalf 
of the slave, will do w^ell to consider that the 
" cries of those who have reaped down their 
fields," that is, the claims of those wdio have 
labored for them, and have no earthly friend to 
vindicate their rights, are heard by Him who has 
said, " Vengeance is mine : I will repay, saith 
the Lord." But Christian masters, or even men of 
religious, sentiments, who always respect the 



OF SLAVERY. 283 

claims of the poor, find pleasure in attending to 
the wants of the helpless, and to none more than 
those of their own slaves. 

Humanity, the claims of religion, and the pecu- 
niary interest of the master, all unite to enforce 
the claims of the slave. The physical and the 
moral man are so nicely blended, and the duties 
we owe the one run so naturally into those we 
owe the other, that it is difficult to make a w^ell- 
defined classification, especially in the case of 
either slaves or children. The following will be 
found sufficiently accurate for all practical pur- 
poses : 

I. The duties of masters to their slaves, con- 
sidered as " their money :" such as relate to judi- 
cious labor, and reasonable time for rest, habita- 
tions, clothing, food, arrangements for sickness, 
their ow^n time, and stewards or overseers. 

II. The duties of masters to slaves, considered 
as social beings : such as relate to moral treat- 
ment, punishments, matrimonial alliances, fiimily 
connections, and duties relating to women, children, 
and the aged. 

III. The duties of masters to slaves, considered 
as religious beings : such as relate to the domestic 
and public instruction of their slaves in the princi- 
pies and duties of religion. 

I. The duties of masters to their slaves^ con- 



284 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

SIDERED AS " THEIR MOxNEY :" ''for Iw ts h/'s mone//,'' 
Ex. xxi. 21. 

1. Slaves should be subjected to reasonable labor. 
Instances are to be found in which ignorance with 
a natural tendency to idleness, or vast wealth, 
joined with a kind of sentimental religion, which 
exhausts itself in a morbid sympathy for the poor, 
leads to a disregard of that great law of nature 
under which slaves should be subjected to labor. 
Many are indulged in idleness. Idleness is a 
crime in any one. Even those whose wealth and 
social position in society enable them to indulge 
in idleness without incurring the ordinary penal- 
ties, inflict a great evil upon society thereby. 
And for those who can only be occupied in the 
menial offices of society to be indulged in idleness 
is to create a nuisance. There are families in the 
Southern country whose slaves can only be re- 
garded as nuisances. Sometimes the ignorance, 
but more frequently the dissipated habits of the 
master, lead to this. Again, in some cases, 
widows with large fortunes in slaves furnish ex- 
amples of the same. They are not generally in 
circumstances to manage a farm, without the aid 
of an intelligent and judicious steward. But a 
morbid sympathy, joined, perhaps, with parsi- 
mony, prevents the employment of such a one. 
The consequence is, the slaves are indulged in 



OP SLAVERY. 285 

great idleness. Families are sometimes broken 
up from these causes, and the slaves sold under 
the hammer. The separation of family ties, 
which under given circumstances is a cause for so 
much regret, is often to be traced to these sources. 
But long before this result, the slaves are con- 
sidered and felt to be a nuisance in the neighbor- 
hood. Many intelligent and humane neighbors, 
who deplore the dissolution of the family and the 
separations consequent upon it, are bound to 
admit that these disasters after all are the least 
of evils. Hence, slaves should be subjected to 
physical labor. '^If amj man vnll not tvorJc^ neither 
shall he eat'' — so God has said, and the master 
who disregards it either for himself or his slaves 
shall come to poverty ; and this shall be the least 
part of the evil. 

But slaves should he subjected only to reasonable 
lahor. There is an excess of physical exertion 
w^hich the constitution cannot bear. The laws of 
nature cannot be violated with impunity. Sooner 
or later the effects will follow. Excessive labor 
will result in a peculiar liability to disease, in pre- 
mature old age, or in death. For the reckless 
industr}^ of a few years, all this pecuniary loss 
and great moral evil follows. He who transcends 
the limits which God has fixed to human labor, 
pays the forfeit of health, if not of hfe. " To 



286 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

coax or bribe one's slave to go beyond this limit 
is wretched economy : to force him to do it is 
cruelty." The state of the weather is an import- 
ant element in determining the amount of labor 
that may be reasonably required. The extremes 
of heat and cold, or inclement weather, rain or 
snow, should always be regarded. African slaves 
can do but little, comparatively, in very inclement 
weather. A reasonable master will regard the 
extremes of heat and cold, and especially the 
latter. 

Suitable tools or implements of labor constitute 
another important item in determining the amount 
of labor that may be reasonably demanded. It 
was cruel in Pharaoh to lay upon the Israelites 
the " same tale of brick," without supplying them 
with the usual "quantity of straw." Ex. v. 7, 8. 
It is equally unjust to require an ordinary day's 
work of your slaves, if you fail to supply them 
with the tools necessary to perform it. A dull 
iron or an ill-shaped helve will require a much 
greater outlay of physical strength to accomplish 
a certain result. There is certainly an evil in 
Southern society at this point. Many persons 
are negligent of the kind and quality of their 
farming implements. Their slaves do a reason- 
able amount of labor, still the form does not pros- 
per. A slave is occasionally sold to meet ex- 



OF SLAVERY. 287 

penses. Humane persons struggle with what they 
call misfortunes. Those who are less careful of 
the claims of humanity make unreasonable exac- 
tions of their laborers. They are sufficiently near 
to certain neighbors to see that their lands are 
well cultivated, their fencing is good, their stock 
is in good condition, their houses neat and com- 
fortable for both man and beast, and their farms 
wear the appearance of thrift ; but they are not 
sufficiently intimate to know that it is the intelli- 
gence or good common sense that presides over 
these farms, and not the extra amount of labor 
exacted of the slaves, that makes the difference. 
The slaves on these prosperous farms, although 
they are made to observe great constancy and 
system in their labor, are not subjected to the 
same amount of hard labor as are those of many 
less thrifty farmers. The achievements of science 
in labor-saving machinery are very great. Man 
is greatly aided in his labors by natural agents. 
They accommodate his work to his physical 
structure, reheve his posture, and lessen his 
fatigue. With sharp instruments, and those of 
the best kind, labor is no lon^rer such a drudorerv. 
Indeed, labor is lightened by a thousand simple and 
cheap arts. Science enables us to accomplish with 
one man the labor of two or more men in almost 
every pursuit of life. It is a great practical mis- 



288 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

take to suppose that this is only true of manufac- 
turing estabhshments. It is equally so in the 
improved methods of farming and the improved 
implements by which the labor of the farm is 
accompHshed. Farmers of enlightened views give 
their laborers the benefit of the newest and best 
improvements in their line. To attempt to rival the 
productions of such farmers, by exacting extra labor 
of the hands, is great injustice. For he who has 
the same work to do as another, with only half his 
means of doing it, has twice his work to do. " The 
ease of the patent spring," and the ^'' speed of the 
locomotive," are not more important to the com- 
fort of the traveller and his economy of time, 
which is money, in accomplishing his journey, 
than are the improved methods and instruments 
of farming to the ease, the economy, and the suc- 
cess of the farmer. " But slaves are careless, 
wasteful, and destructive." So they are, and so 
perhaps would you be. There is but little differ- 
ence between slaves and any others who labor for 
us in menial offices. All such operatives require 
a presiding mind to effect a proper division of 
labor, and have its eye in every place and on 
every thing. Without this, it is idle to prate 
about the wastefulness of slaves. If the master 
is himself too idle or improvident for this, he is 
culpable : if he has no capacity for it, he is fit to 



OF SLAVERY. 289 

labor under the direction of another — that is, he 
is fit to be a slave ; but he is not quahfied to 
direct the labor of others — that is, he is not fit to 
be a master. 

Slaves should he allotued reasonahle time for rest. 
All animal nature requires the refreshment derived 
from sleep. The muscular and nervous system 
of man requires not less than seven hours in 
twenty-four to repair the wastes of a day of active 
labor. This is a general rule. Some do with 
less : a few require more. But in every case 
there is a limit beyond which we cannot habitually 
go, without the sacrifice of health or life. The 
constitutions of some laboring men can bear a 
great loss of sleep ; but it is on the same princi- 
ple that a few constitutions can, for a long time, 
resist the effects of the daily use of alcohol. But 
still dram-drinking Avill tell, and so will the loss ol 
sleep. 

We unyoke the ox, we stable the horse, and the 
whole night is devoted to their repose. But this 
is often not the case with the w^eary slave, who 
toiled with them through the day. He is con- 
venient to demands, and a great many extra jobs 
may be found for him before he reposes. I say 
" reposes," for sleep is not all that is required for 
rest. There is a time of leisure, a waking repose, 
which is as necessary as sleep. No reasonable 
13 



290 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

man denies himself the benefit of this. The slave 
is entitled to the early part of the night for this. 
No one has a right to require him to take all his 
rest with his eyes shut, and his senses locked up 
in sleep. There is the refreshment of mind re- 
sulting from repose from ordinary pursuits, and 
occupation with things wdiich may please the 
humor or minister to innocent gratification, by 
wdiich, to a certain degree, the exhausted system 
is restored as much as by sleep. Indeed, with- 
out this, " balmy sleep" is not a '^ sweet restorer." 
The man who works hard the six days of the 
week, does not require to sleep all Sunday in 
order to restore his w^asted system. There is a 
transition of mental pursuits from business to 
devotion, and there is to a virtuous mind the 
hallov/ed cheerfulness of that holy day, which 
contributes to restore the system, no less than 
cessation from labor, and sleep. The slave, like 
his master, is entitled to the night. What if he 
do employ a reasonable part of it to turn a penny, 
and in arranging for his personal comfort? It 
gives repose to his mind : it ministers to his cheer- 
fulness : along with sleep it reinvigorates his 
whole system, and makes him a more valuable as 
well as a more happy servant. Who, then, shall 
deny him the boon ? Surely not the economist, 
vvlio calls him his '" money," and who, by any 



OF SLAVERY. 201 

other course, would be reducing the value of " his 
money" below par ! 

In Virginia — and we are not at liberty to think 
it is materially different in other Southern States 
— slaves are generally indulged with time for 
repose at their day meals, and with the whole 
night from early nightfall. A clear evidence of 
the economy of this system is afforded by the 
strikinsf contrast which in some cases is to be 

a 

found on plantations between slaves thus treated, 
and masters of a certain description. The slaves 
are fat, sleek, cheerful, and long-lived : spending 
their leisure time in cheerful conversation, in 
singing, or in those little personal offices which 
give elasticity to mind and body. But not so 
with some masters. They sleep as much — that 
is, lie down as much — as their slaves ; but their 
sleep is disturbed by an incoherent tracing of the 
anxious thoughts of the troubled day. They are 
not refreshed. Both mind and body are worn 
down by excessive friction. They hasten to pre- 
mature old age ; and the weary wheels of life 
stand still long before the appointed time. Some 
masters are personally very industrious and enter- 
prising : they work side by side w^ith their slaves. 
It is their boast that they require no more of their 
slaves than they do themselves. Yea, they do 
more than they, having the direction and care of 



292 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

all. Surely, say they, my slaves have no right 
to complain. But this reasoning is not always 
fair. It may be that the master overtasks him- 
self. This does not give the right to overtask 
his slaves. Withal, he brings to his task a physi- 
cal system stimulated to a high degree by those 
mental activities which push him forward to en- 
terprise great things. He labors to exhaustion, 
and enjoys his rest only the more for having 
done so. Not so with the slave who works by 
his side. When he yields to over-fatigue, his 
thoughts administer no cordial to his weary limbs. 
It is well if he have not intelligence enough to 
make them a source of still further prostration. 

Again, the man-servant and the maid-servant, 
as well as the beast, are entitled to the rest of the 
Sabbath. More than this, we are commanded to 
""remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." 
The head of the family should not only do this 
himself, but see that all his household observe the 
Sabbath. It is not enough that the children and 
servants be left free to keep the Sabbath. The 
head of the fmiily should see that all the arrange- 
ments necessary to promote the due observance 
of the Sabbath are properly made, so that, whilst 
he requires the observance of the Sabbath, all the 
domestic arrangements invite to its observance. 

There are certain individuals about many fami- 



OP SLAVERY. 293 

lies whose offices are so difficult to be dispensed 
with, because they are so necessary to self-indul- 
gencCj that they are often deprived of the rest of 
the Sabbath. Of this class there are two humble 
but very important personages, which it is neither 
beneath the subject nor the occasion to notice, 
namely, the cook and the carriage-driver. To the 
carriage-driver of some families, all days are alike 
" days of rest." He is the most idle personage 
about the premises. It is well if a farm-hand be 
not presently sold to support his idleness. But 
the carriage-driver of another family is himself also 
a farm-hand. With him the case may be widely 
different. He may toil on the farm six days in 
the week, and spend the day of rest in burnishing 
harness, and with carriage and horses. If he 
drive to church, the care of his horses is at least 
a pretext for neglecting the sermon; and if he 
drive to spend the day with a neighbor, it is not 
a day of rest, and may not be a day of enjoyment. 
In either case, there is but little companionship, 
but few church privileges, and still less opportu- 
nity for rest. It may be no better with the cook, 
and is often not so well. Indeed, the Sabbath is 
seldom a day of rest with the cook. It is oftenei' 
a day of much closer confinement. Stewing, 
roasting, baking, and broihng the greater part of 
the day on Sabbath, afford but little time for the 



294 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

repose for which the fourth commandment pro- 
vides. These are evils in the land. It lies on 
right-minded men to correct them. At the least, 
they can correct their own practices, and in doing 
this they will do much to reform the habits of 
society. 

2. Slaves should he furnished ivitli suitable hahita- 
tions. We are considering slaves as property, and 
the duty of masters as economists. On the prin- 
ciple of good economy, slaves are entitled to habi- 
tations sufficiently airy and cool in summer, close 
and warm in winter. And as it costs no more, 
why may not their houses be located with due re- 
gard to their health, their convenience, and com- 
fort ? Let them then be grouped together on the 
gentle slope of a hill, and, as lime is cheap, let 
them all be neatly whitewashed. Who could ob- 
ject to a little garden spot attached to each ? And 
why may there not be nice rows of shade trees, 
and neat grass-plots upon which the children can 
sport, and where the men and women can sit and 
enjoy a delightful Sabbath evening? Economy 
will not object to this. The miserable smoky 
hovels in low damp situations, black and disagree- 
able to the sight, in which, in some instances, 
they are huddled together, cannot be too severely 
condemned on the principles of economy, no less 
than on those of good morals. For if the inhabit- 



OF SLAVERY. 295 

ants of such buildings are not filthy, degraded, and 
thievish to an extent that materially depreciates 
their value, it can only be because they are extra- 
ordinary examples of moral purity. 

3. Slaves slioidd he comfortitbhj clothed. All 
those families whose self-respect leads them to 
regard their position in society, supply their 
slaves with comfortable clothing, and pay particular 
attention to the neatness as well as the comfort 
of those kept about the house. It v/ould indicate 
a very low state of civilization, if these things 
should be generally neglected. The improvements 
in the manufacture of cotton, w^ool, and leather 
have been so great that nothing short of these 
could be tolerated in decent society. Our slaves 
are no doubt generally better fed, clothed, and 
housed than are the menials in most of the nations 
of Europe. Still, there are instances of neglect, 
wdiich should be noticed. Those who pay but 
little attention to their habitations, generally neg- 
lect their clothing. Feet are to be found unshod 
when frost is on the ground ; the head uncovered 
in all weathers ; and the body for from being suit- 
ably protected. The color and tropical habitudes 
of our slaves render them pecuharly hable to suffer 
from cold. Health as w^ell as comfort requires 
them to be warmly clad in cold weather. "A 
shivering servant is a shame to any master." It 



296 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

is economy to sell a slave occasionally rather than 
let all suffer for the want of clothing. But they 
should also be supplied with suitable beds and 
bedding. The expense is really so trifling, and the 
economy so great, that masters entitled to respect 
cannot be excused for the neglect of this duty 
Shucks are plentiful on all farms, and cotton is 
abundant on many, and can be easily had at cheap 
rates on those on which it is not raised. These 
articles make excellent mattresses, and the latter 
makes most excellent comforts. Those rainy days 
on which slaves should not be allowed to work 
out, should be employed in providing these articles. 
Health and life are often thus preserved. To allow 
slaves to labor in filth and rags through the week, 
and lie about or stroll about on the Sabbath in 
their umvashed rags, should be severely censured. 
It does not help the matter a great deal to throw 
them a thin blanket occasionally, w^ith liberty to 
take repose wherever they can find it. Such mas- 
ters pay more in doctors' bills than it would cost 
to make their slaves as comfortable as those of 
their more prudent neighbors. It is a shame to 
them. We cannot give them any more credit for 
practical sense than for good morals. 

4. Slaves sJioidd he tuell fed. The quality, the 
quantity of food, and reasonable time to eat it and 
refresh themselves, are the ideas wdiich enter into 



OF SLAVERY. 297 

this duty. A sufficient quantity of good substantial 
food, well prepared, should be furnished. Meat 
should form a fair proportion of the diet of a labor- 
ing African. The Irish, it is true, eat but little 
meat, and do well, — that is, such as do not perish, 
— but the African constitution in this climate 
requires meat, and they must have it if they do 
full labor. Their food should be well prepared. 
To secure this, it should be prepared by a cook, 
and eaten at a common table. To put laboring 
farm-hands off with an allowance of meat and meal, 
to prepare it or seek its preparation as they may, 
is too obviously wrong to require argument. The 
force of habit is exceedingly stubborn in the Afri- 
can. To eat a piece of meat exhausted of its 
nutriment by being crisped on the coals, is very 
much to the taste of those accustomed to it : 
they will yield with great reluctance. But still, 
this plan should give place to the better prepara- 
tion of the public table. An excellent habit of 
the slaves is to eat slowly. Usually something 
like two hours in the long days is allowed them to 
eat and refresh themselves at noon. It is not too 
much to allow. An hour's repose after a meat 
dinner should be allowed to all laborers in the 
heat of summer. Again, they are entitled to such 
variety as the season affords. The early roasting 
ear, the ripe fruit, the melons, the potatoes, the 



208 PHILOSOPHY AND PKACTICE 

iiit stock, all enter of right in due season and 
limited proportions into their bill of fare. Better 
do all this than pay doctors' bills, or tempt them 
to steal. Nor do I fall out with the custom of 
some of our better families, to supply their tables 
with a portion of all the delicacies of the " great 
house," on particular occasions. Some may think 
this too much for slaves ! But the attachment of 
Southern slaves to the famihes in which they were 
born and brought up is proverbial. And let 
Northern fanatics believe and prate whjit they 
will, it is still true that the practical workings of 
the system generally, on the basis of the duties 
here inculcated, is in a good degree the cause of 
this attachment. Every right-minded master con- 
templates the phi/sique of his servants with emo- 
tions of pride and pleasure. Their looks reflect 
his character. A gang of half-starved, meanly- 
clad, overvrorked slaves, with no heart to laugh 
or sing, and even without that attachment for their 
owners which the ox and the ass have for theirs, 
is a disgusting spectacle, and as revolting to every 
feeling of humanity as it is in violation of every 
principle of economy. 

5. Provmon should he made for slaves in times 
of sickness. Each of the topics discussed derives 
much of its importance from its connection with 
this. Reasonable labor, time for repose and sleep^ 



OF SLAVERY. 299 

habitations, clothing, and food, are each and all of 
them provisions against the occurrence of sickness. 
Still, the topic deserves a more special notice. 
All famihes should have such domestic provisions 
as anticipate sickness by suitable arrangements 
for it when it comes — such as comfortable apart- 
ments and the ordinary conveniences for nursing. 
All flimihes and manufactories employing a suffi- 
cient number of slaves to require it, should have a 
hospital : that is, a house so situated as to loca- 
tion and internal arrangements as to be a conve- 
nient and comfortable place for the sick, and 
equally convenient to those who may have to 
nurse the sick, or to overlook those who do. The 
economy of such an arrangement on large farms 
commends itself to approbation. So far from 
encouraging a well-known disposition among 
slaves of a certain character to lie by for trifling 
causes, it will contribute very much to discourage 
such habits. If slaves are permitted to lounge 
about their own houses when sick, they may often 
elude observation, and spend their time in idle- 
ness, when they should be at w^ork ; and in cases 
of actual sickness, they are liable to suffer for 
want of attention. On the hospital plan, the case 
will be very different with each of these. If all 
who are sick have to go to the hospital, and take 
physic, the former will not be so likely to feign 



300 PHILOSOPHY AXD PRACTICE 

sickness, and the really sick will be better at- 
tended to. 

6. What is usually called their own time should 
he strictly alloived them. Besides Christmas, there 
are frequent holiday occasions through the year, 
and still oftener a Saturday afternoon at particular 
seasons, which usage has secured to them as theii 
oivn time. This time is usually employed by the 
more provident in cultivating a garden, in mend- 
ing their clothes, cleansing about their houses, or 
in various ways earning a few dollars with w^hich 
to purchase little articles of fancy or comfort in 
the way of furniture or dress, such as masters do 
not usually furnish. Some masters obviate the 
necessity for a portion of this, by cultivating a 
part of the crop, and dividing the proceeds of its 
sale among them for their exclusive benefit. 
None but a tyrant, who is always a bad economist, 
will disregard their claims to what is known as 
their own time. Any other man who should 
attempt it, would soon be taught to feel that the 
force of public opinion, even among slaves, well 
sustained as it is on these points, is a matter not 
to be despised. The claims of slaves and the 
rights of the public coincide. Plantation slaves 
who may be no less than a body of ragamuffins, 
carrying on petty depredations upon the rights 
of property in the neighborhood, are a serious 



OF SLAVERY. 301 

nuisance. Public opinion will not tolerate it. The 
economy of such a master is as bad as his injust- 
ice to his neighbors is oppressive. 

7. Stewards or overseers. The duty Avhich the 
master owes his slaves in the selection of a person 
to be over them is often embarrassing, and at all 
times important. That which a farmer has time 
and ability to do for himself, he should not employ 
an agent to do for him. He has more interest in 
it than any one else, and will observe more fidelity 
ill its performance. No economist will employ a 
steward to manage his farm if he can prudently 
supply his place by his own personal attentions. 
Some employ them that they may with less loss 
indulge in idleness : others, because they distrust 
their own experience in farming ; and others again, 
because more important duties put it out of their 
power to give the necessary personal attention to 
their farms. But whether from the one cause or 
the other, the master owes certain duties to his 
slave as well as to himself in selecting an individ- 
ual to take his place over them. Economically 
considered, the rights of the slave and the inter- 
ests of the master coincide. Many overlook this. 
An industrious but heartless business man may be 
found to act as steward, who, Avith an interest in 
the crop, will stir late and early, and drive hard all 
the day ; but the great laws which regulate the 



302 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

reci2)rocal operations of labor, sleep, and repose 
will be strangely disregarded by such a man. He 
may succeed in a crop for a year, perhaps for a 
series of years ; but the value of the personal 
property as well as of the lands will be annually 
depreciating. There is no economy in employing 
an agent of this class. A plantation is an empire 
within itself. If the territory be large, and the 
subjects numerous, the mind that presides, whether 
as master or steward, must be competent to direct 
a proper division of labor, and to govern on the 
principles of justice and equity. In such an 
empire, talents of a peculiar kind are required. It 
is only the income from such estates that wiU 
justify the employment of the best talents, for 
these will always command high prices. Mas- 
ters with less income cannot command the best 
talents. But, in either case, due regard should 
be paid to the moral character of the man put 
over slaves. The authority committed to him is 
necessarily extensive. Though industrious, he 
need not be cruel. He should be fully capable 
of sympathizing with the semi-barbarous subjects 
of his empire. Industry, good moral habits, and 
common sense, are essential qualities in an over- 
seer. To be wanting in any of these, constitutes 
an entire disqualification for the office. To be 
himself immoral, and to contribute to corrupt the 



OF SLAVERY. 303 

morals of those under hinij involves the master 
Avho employs him in the guilt of sin, as well as 
depreciates the value of his property. When a 
man of industry, common sense, and virtue is 
found, pains should be taken to attach him to the 
estate. If he be a single man, he should be 
encouraged to marry. His situation should be 
made as permanent as possible. The man of 
common sense, who well understands that nothing 
but industry, carefulness or prudence, and virtue, 
will secure his situation, will, one year with 
another, make as good crops as it would be 
reasonable to expect. More than a fair crop, like 
all other unfair operations, impHes unfairness 
somewhere. If it be in the voiceless woes of the ^ 
slave, the master is sadly the loser in the end. 
He who retains his steward with a view to extra 
crops by such means, may be likened to a barba- 
rian king in Africa, but does not deserve to be 
ranked among masters in civilized life. All mas- 
ters, I should think, owe it to themselves and to 
their slaves to give a great deal of personal atten- 
'tion to their farms.^*' 

* I take this occasion to call your attention to a little volume 
on the "Duties of Masters to Servants/' three premium essa3-s, 
by the Rev. Messrs. H. N. McTyeire, C. F. Sturgis, and A. T. 
Holmes, published by the Southern Baptist Publication Society, 
Charleston, S. C, to which I acknowledge myself indebted for 
several suggestions on this topic. Read the book. 



304 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

II. The duties of masters to slaves, as social 

BEINGS. 

They are entitled to the restraints, the protec- 
tion, and the encouragement, which a prudent 
administration of a system of good laws is calcu- 
lated to afford. A part of this is secured to them 
by the civil government ; but a large part is left 
to the discretion and fidehty of the master. The 
civil government assumes that the pecuniary in- 
terest of the master and the duty which he owes 
his slaves coincide so perfectly, that the perform- 
ance of certain duties may with propriety be left 
to him. He is the patriarch of his whole house. 
His family is his empire, subordinate, it is true, 
to the civil government, but still an empire. He 
commands the time and labor of his children and 
his slaves — the one for a definite period in life, 
the other for an indefinite period. He gives law 
to the one and to the other. So long as he does 
not violate the constitution and laws of the politi- 
cal commonwealth of which he is himself a subject, 
his authority is absolute. All the rights of his 
children and his servants appeal to him. He is 
responsible to the civil government not to violate 
its provisions, and he is responsible to God for the 
fiiithful performance of his duties to his children 
and his servants ; for the sin of omitting to do 



OF SLAVERY. 305 

his duty to his children or servants could rarely 
be reached by the civil authority. 

The duty of the master to his slaves as social 
beings is to give them laws within the limits pre- 
scribed by the civil government^ and to govern 
them according to the principles of justice and 
equity. 

As his empire is constantly under his eye, or 
the eye of his immediate agent, it is not necessary 
that he have recourse to a code of laws definitely 
drawn up and formally announced. As the teacher 
in his room, and the mother in her nursery, may 
have their rules, and have them obeyed without 
these formahties, so may the master. But these 
rules should not relate merely to the economical 
use of the slave's time and labor, but should be 
adapted to his character as a social being. Hence, 
it is not proposed to give a code of laws for the 
plantation, but to discuss certain principles which 
should influence the conduct of the master in the 
government of his domestic empire. 

1. In regard to imnishmenU. Neither the 
magistrate, the parent, nor the master, should 
bear the sword in vain. Disobedience, which, in 
all wise governments, is wickedness, must be re- 
strained, and in extreme cases by severe punish- 
ments. It w^ould be great vreakness to forbear. 
But one law, however, should govern in the in- 



B06 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

fliction of punishments. They should be inflicted 
for the purpose of correction, or as " a terror to 
evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well," and 
not to gratify passion or resentment. Punish- 
ments inflicted from motives of resentment merely, 
and often repeated, tend directly to cow the spirit, 
stultify the intellect, destroy self-respect, and 
greatly weaken the power of arbitrary volition. 
Such a man approximates the nature of a brute, 
and is, in fact, scarcely of the value of a common 
horse. He is a human being, but in circumstances 
in which he has few motives of action above those 
which influence a brute — namely, the indulgence 
of his animal nature, restrained only by the fear 
of present punishment. He is not as serviceable 
as a brute, and is far more dangerous than a brute. 
A slave to wdiose sense of what is right and 
proper to be done nothing can be trusted, and 
from whom nothing can be gotten but that which 
is extorted from his fears, is of no value unless 
it be to a master of the same genus — that is, like 
himself, a brute. The prodigality as well as 
w^ickedness of this course requires no comment. 
There is a more excellent way of maintaining 
authority, and it lies -upon the conscience of every 
master no less than upon his purse to observe it 
as a duty : it is to punish for the ^^urpose of cor- 
rection only — not to destroy, hut to save. 



OP SLAVERY. 307 

Punishments can only be salutary as a means 
of moral discipline in the measure in which they y 
produce shame and mortification. But one who 
has no self-respect can have no shame. / The effect 
of punishment in such a case is lost only so far as 
it may help to brutalize him. A desire to secure 
the fVivor and preserve the confidence of those 
upon whom we are dependent is the highest guar- 
anty for fiiithfulness. But he only who respects 
himself will value the respect and confidence of 
others. And it is difficult for any man to retain 
his self-respect when he knows that no one re- 
spects him. It is not impossible to be done ; but 
only men of great moral firmness and conscious 
integrity succeed in doing it. We have no right 
to expect it from slaves. They universally con- 
cede the superior intelligence of the whites. /And 
for one of these, accustomed from early childhood 
to hear himself disparaged in company, and de- v 
graded by harsh epithets for his stupidity and 
disobedience by those whom he thinks to be supe- 
rior in every thing, to grow up with the necessary 
self-respect, is not to be expected. It would be 
singular, indeed, even if one who had been better 
brought up should be able to retain his self-respect 
under this kind of treatment. And without self- 
respect, punishment can have no moral effect. 
Why then should we thus sin against God ? How 



308 PHILOSOPHY AND PKACTICE 

much better to regard the counsel of Paul : '^And 
ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing 
threatening: hiowing that your Master also is in 
heaven!' Ephesians vi. 9. He hath enjoined upon 
servants to serve then- '' masters in singleness of 
heart as unto Christ^' '^ with good will doing service 
as to the Lord, and not to men.'' blasters are then 
commanded to " do the same things unto them, for- 
bearing threatening ;" that is, carefully avoiding all 
those hasty, unjust, and petulant censures, which 
display themselves in idle threatenings, or scold- 
ings, do your duty to your servants as an act of 
duty to God ; or, with a idew to his approbation, 
/govern them according to the principles of justice, 
equity, and kindness — remembering that your 
Master is in heaven, from whose forbearance you 
may have need of more than you now extend to 
your servants. 

" I desire to be kind to my servants ; but they 
are often so perverse, they will not allow me to 
make their situation as comfortable as I would." 
We sometimes meet with these remarks. There 
is often a great deal of reason for them. Our 
slaves have many faults. They are ignorant, 
careless, slothful, and sometimes perverse. These 
things are at all times vexatious, and sometimes a 
great temptation to sin. But then it should not 
be forgotten that our children sometimes give us 



OFSLAYERY. 309 

more trouble, and furnish stronger temptations to 
sin, than our slaves could possibly do. Having all 
the perverseness of the slave, their superior intel- 
ligence may make them much more potent for evil. 
But still they are our children. The wisest and 
best parents will have to be blind to a great many 
faults, and ultimately bear in silence with a great 
deal v;hich cannot be concealed. The parent that 
does his best, and commits results to God, will 
find in the end that things turn out a great deal 
better than his fears dictated they would do. So 
our slaves are ours still. They are God's poor, 
committed to us. We must control and protect 
them for their profit, as well as work them for our 
mutual profit. They have great fliults. Still, they 
are our heritage both for good and for evil. We 
may not dissolve the relation between us and them, 
any more than that between us and our children. 
We dare not turn them loose in the savage wilds of 
Africa, any more than we dare allow them to be 
hunted down as wild beasts by the advances of a 
superior race, with w^hom they cannot be permitted 
to amalgamate. To govern as well as work them, 
is, then, a moral necessity. We cannot fulfil our 
duty without perhaps a great deal of trouble in 
given cases. At all times we must be blind to 
many faults, and bear with some others which 
carnot be concealed. , There is no release from 



310 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

this war. Penalties, severe penalties must be 
inflicted occasionally. Every steady government 
will sometimes have to wield authority with a 
strong hand. This is a source of trouble to all, 
and often of great pain to good people. Still, there 
are views to be taken of the condition of the Afri- 
can which go far to reheve the whole subject of its 
difficulties. Many of those faults which are sources 
of so much annoyance are to be traced to ignoi^ance 
and a tvant of self-respect, and these are oftentimes 
their infirmities. They are by nature slow to 
learn, and hence their ignorance ; and few perhaps 
have taken pains to cultivate in them much self- 
respect. Do not these facts plead in their behalf? 
Again, what master who desires to do justly can 
be wholly indifferent to their good qualities ? For 
a more docile and kind-hearted race of people are 
not to be found than the Africans of the Southern 
States. Readiness to forgive, gratitude in their 
rude notions of it, hospitality to strangers, and 
affection for friends, are characteristics of the race. 
Cases of ingratitude and resentment are the excep- 
tions, not the rule. Confide, then, in your slaves, as 
far as these qualities will allow you to do it. They 
will not disappoint your confidence, as seriously, at 
least, as many others with the same opportunities 
would probably do it. Give attention to their 
comfort in little things. This will not cost you 



OF SLAVERY. 311 

much, and will show your care for them. Pay 
due respect to then- feehngs and then' reputation. 
This may cost you no more than a pleasant look 
or a kind word. Never be backward under proper 
circumstances to trust them in any thing in which 
it is proper to trust persons in a menial position. 
iThis course will not be without its effect. Con- 
fidence will beget confidence. For one to be 
respected by others, goes f^ir to beget respect in 
one's self. With a reasonable degree of self-respect 
in the slave, and confidence in the kindness and 
justice of his master, his discipline cannot fail to 
be salutary. He may punish in cases of disobe- 
dience with great firmness, and to a merited ex- 
tent, and it will not fail to produce shame and 
mortification. His authority will be '' a terror to 
evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well." 
The public opinion of his little commonwealth 
will fully sustain his administration. The counsels 
of age, the cutting jokes of early manhood, and 
the merry laugh of the young, will all unite to 
teach the offender a valuable lesson. He who 
governs a plantation of slaves without the aid of a 
certain measure of pubhc opinion, is a loser in the 
end. Some masters affect to despise this. Brute 
force may sustain them ; but the public opinion 
even of so humble a commonwealth as a plantation 
of slaves is not to be despised. The sensible and 



312 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

humane master, who would ohey the apostohc 
preceptj and maintain a sound and judicious disci- 
phne among his slaves, will obey what is equally 
imphed in another injunction, and entitle himself 
to the respect and confidence of his subjects. 
Tyrants who have operated upon wider and nobler 
fields have affected to despise public opinion, and 
lost their crowns. The petty tyrants of whom we 
treat cannot fiiil to lose the respect of their neigh- 
bors. It is impossible to respect a man whose 
policy infests the neighborhood with a band of 
freebooters, and this policy will rarely fail to re- 
duce such a man to poverty also. 

2. In regard to the social frincipJe. They are 
social beings. There are among them those great 
impulses of our nature, general love for society, 
and attachment to the sexes, out of which arise 
the afiection of husband and wife, the love of 
parents to children, and children to parents, and 
all the various modifications of affection, resulting 
from collateral and more distant relationships. 
Besides these, there is the feehng of friendship 
between individuals of similar habits and corre- 
sponding pursuits. All these social principles are 
common to our African population. Any evidence 
to the contrary is only a proof of a low state of 
civilization. Now, it is an easy matter for some 
minds to overlook the fact that they are i^ocial 



OF SLAVERY. 313 

and not mere sentient beings. But all the ele- 
ments of simple society are to be found among 
them. They associate together as other races. 
It is not pecuhar to them to wish to be together 
and to find pleasure in each other's society. They 
obey the common law of humanity. These ele- 
ments of the social nature give rise to various rela- 
tions and duties among themselves. They do not 
operate mechanically, but morally. Hence their 
society is subject to all the mutations, the conflict 
of rights and the violation of duties, of any other 
simple society, under like restrictions. As in any 
other society, these relations must be understood 
and made to operate within certain limits. These 
rights must be guarded and protected by the ob- 
servance of certain duties enforced by certain pen- 
alties. Otherwise they may herd together, as in 
the wilds of Africa; but they cannot dwell to- 
gether as rational beings. For the impulses of 
nature are not fulfilled when they are permitted 
merely to herd together. At this point, the mas- 
ter owes an important duty to his slaves. Its ob- 
servance will greatly promote their progress in 
civilization, and enhance the value of his property. 
He is their civil lawgiver, and the judge in all the 
grave controversies which arise among them. / He 
should not be derehct in duty. He should not 
think it beneath him to arrest their broils bv 
14 



314 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

authority^ and settle their controversies by a kiud 
of judicial decision. A sensible man will not con- 
tent himself by saying : " There were no bones 
broken : no one was killed or crippled/' or, "A fine 
child is born." These are not the only things 
which concern his interest or his duty. It is not 
doing as he would be done by. The civil govern- 
ment which protects him w^ould not be worth a 
tithe of the taxes, if it concerned itself no further 
to protect his rights of property and his happiness. 
/His decisions, therefore, should regulate the rela- 
tions of this society, should protect such rights of 
property as he allows among them, and enforce 
the observance of such contracts as he allows 
them to negotiate either among their own fellow- 
servants or those of another plantation. At the 
same time that he sees that they keep themselves 
within the position which they hold in the great 
community of w^hites,/in which they are subordi- 
nate members, he should see that they are not 
overborne and oppressed by their superiors. 
/ The first and most important of all the social 
relations is the marriage relation. The civil gov- 
ernment has not thought it wise to interfere with 
this. It leaves this to the control of the master. 
His interest and his duty afford a high guaranty 
that he will consult the interests of his slaves in 
this matter. He should encourage the young to 



OF SLAVERY. 315 

marry. He should not only positively forbid the 
herding together in indiscriminate intercourse, but 
he should promote marriage by all suitable arrange- 
ments and influences. . It is an important interest 
and duty with him to have his slaves suitably 
married and at home. He should not scruple to 
buy and to sell to effect proper marriages among 
the slaves of his own plantation. And when this 
cannot be done, he should permit his slaves to 
intermarry with those of a neighboring plantation. 
There should be in all cases separate apartments ' 
for families, and separate houses as soon as they 
can be provided. 

From causes which need not be enumerated, 
they are peculiarly addicted to hcentious indul- 
gences, and particularly disposed to violate the 
marriage-bed. No master is at liberty to neglect 
or overlook these immoralities. He should not 
allow any to marry without understanding the 
obligations of the relation, and he should enforce, 
as far as his discipline can reach the case, the 
obhgations of the marriage-bed. /The custom of 
leaving one wife and taking another, should be 
positively prohibited. Those masters whose 
policy actually makes this custom in a good 
degree necessary, cannot be too severely cen- 
sured. If slaves were mere chattels, as abolition- 
ists affirm they are, there might be an apology 



316 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

for this. But as it is, there is no apology for it. 
The custom of separating man and wife is the 
remnant of a barbarous age : any gentleman should 
be ashamed of it. The civilization of the age may 
not be expected to countenance it. Those who 
think to maintain the institution of slavery under 
so palpable a violation of the laws of morality, 
may expect to meet the unqualified censure of 
the civilized world./ No: the marriage relation 
must be maintained. To be maintained, it must 
be respected. Indiscriminate intercourse should 
be restrained. Those masters whose policy ren- 
ders this custom in a good degree necessary should 
revise their system, and they must revise their 
system unless they would continue to outrage 
the moral sense of their felloAV-citizens. For my- 
self, I do not feel at liberty — and I speak as a 
citizen — to treat the marriage relation among 
slaves other than as a most sacred relation. Those 
marriages which are maintained in good faith, no 
master should feel himself at liberty to violate. 
Nothing but conjugal infidelity or some capital 
offence which subjects the party offending to im- 
prisonment for life, to banishment, or to death, 
can dissolve the marriage obligation. " Those 
whom God hath joined together, let not man put 
asunder." 

I have said that the Africans are a kind and 



OF SLAVERY. 317 

docile race of people ; but still it is true of them, 
as of all other barbarous people, that they have 
but httle conception of moral influence as an ele- 
ment of government. Fear is the motive to 
which in all cases they appeal — and with the best 
intentions. They have but little idea of any thing 
else. Whatever authority, therefore, is placed in 
their hands is hkely to be exercised with great 
harshness, perhaps with cruelty. Many masters 
avail themselves of the services of an intelligent 
servant, and make him "head-man," instead of 
incurring the expense of an overseer. In many 
cases the plan succeeds remarkably well. But in 
most cases of the kind, the master owes an import- 
ant duty to his other slaves : it is to overlook the 
exercise of the delegated authority, and restrain 
the tendency to excessive severity. 

There are other points at which this tendency 
is liable to display itself The husband is likely 
to exhibit it in the authority exercised over the 
wife, and both the husband and the wife in the 
authority exercised over the children. The hus- 
Dand is often found to beat and otherwise maltreat 
the wife. In fits of passion, some of them are 
extremely cruel. The children are brought up in 
the same way. They are often subjected to cruel 
treatment. Impatience, fretfulness, and stunning 
blows, make up the system of cabin-discipline. 



U- 



318 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

The child is often stultified in early life, and, with- 
out self-respectj grows up a stupid, slovenly, and 
insufferable eye-servant. Thus, that which made 
the young slave a source of so much annoyance in 
the kitchen, the chamber, and the dining-room, 
began in the discipline of the cabin, and with 
those who themselves were good servants, and 
who, for the most part, intended to do their duty 
in their humble way to their children. Now, 
there are many families of great moral worth 
among us who entirely neglect the discipline of 
the cabin. They take no account of the young 
negro, nor do they inquire into the treatment of 
wives. This is a fault — a great fault. It presses 
with great force upon the interests of the master, 
as well as upon the domestic happiness of the 
African family and the moral character of the 
rising generation. The duty of the master is 
urgent. He should restrain the exercise of 
cruelty to wives. He should do the same in 
behalf of the children. Both his example and 
his precepts should unite to introduce a sounder 
system of discipline. A well-trained slave, who 
respects himself, is far more valuable in any view 
than a stupid eye-servant. The master who will 
not condescend to pay some attention to the 
discipline of the cabin must content himself with 
the latter. 



OF SLAVERY. 319 

The sick and the aged should be suitably cared 
for. It is not enough that provision be made for 
these : the master owes them a duty in the kind 
of provision which he makes for them. The regu- 
lar nurse can serve them with a Httle medicine, a 
cup of water, and help them to the couch of straw, 
or support their heads in death ; but they are 
social beings : their claims reach far beyond these 
things, and the duty of the master is imperative. 
It certainly should not come short of the service 
rendered by the good Samaritan. He who can 
free his conscience short of this, is low enough in 
the scale of civilization to change places with 
many slaves of our acquaintance. Humanity 
claims something for the sick and aged on the 
score of comfort as well as necessity. Why may 
they not be frequently ministered unto by their 
friends ? Do we think that the laws of friendship 
and consanguinity do not operate among them ? 
If so, we are mistaken ; for they are social beings, 
as w^e are. Why, then, deny them this boon, 
when it can be afforded them, as it often can, at 
so small a cost ? I do not scruple to say that 
there are many circumstances in which any 
humane man would allow the husband and the 
child to quit even the harvest-field to minister 
as occasion might demand to the sick wife and 
mother, and to soothe her sorrows in a dying- 



320 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

hour. And the aged father ! Shall no child or 
grandchild support his tottering limbs to his 
couch, and lay him doAvn to die in peace ? Shall 
all these delicate services, if performed at all, bo 
left to stranger hands ? Shall those who never 
knew mother, who never cared for grandfather, or 
who were never reckoned among their friends, be 
left to perform these last services ? There may 
be masters whose business or whose want of 
thought may lead them to be inattentive to the 
social sorrows of the sick and the aged ; but they 
should remember that " they also have a blaster in 
heavenT Would they have Him to be as inatten- 
tive to their sorrows in sickness and in age ? Let 
them beware " lest the same measure they mete he 
measured to them again /" 

III. The duties of masters to slaves as re- 
ligious BEINGS. 

There are no duties which we owe our slaves as 
" our money," or as social beings, which do not 
derive additional weight and importance from the 
fact that they are religious beings, and that, as 
such, we OAve them all these duties, and still 
higher and more solemn duties. " But I am not 
a Christian, and therefore am not concerned in the 
discussion of this topic." But I am not aware 
that to omit to profess to be an honest man, or to 
neglect to strive to be an honest man, absolves 



OF SLAVERY. 321 

one from the obligation to be honest : so neither 
will a failure to profess Christianity free any one 
from the duty of being a Christian. Both you 
and your slaves are religious beings ; and if you 
are not a Christian, you ought to be, and God will 
hold you to account for all the duties of a Chris- 
tian life, whether in this w^orld you acknowledge 
the obhgation or not. Your slaves are entitled 
to the rio'hts which belons; to rehaious beings in 
their circumstances; and it is your duty to treat 
them as such ; nor is there a single master who 
w^ill not be held to a strict account for the faithful 
performance of these duties to his slaves. 

The rehgious sentiment is strong in the Afri- 
can. Both his mind and his heart respond readily 
to the fear of God, the love of virtue, and the 
hope of heaven. But they are religious beings in 
a low state of civilization. Their intellects are 
usually dull. They are subject to wild, extrava- 
gant, and superstitious opinions, and consequently 
to strong and violent religious emotions. They 
do not, as some suppose, have stronger feelings 
naturally than others. They do not differ in this 
respect from barbarians of any other race of 
people; but they have a low grade of mental 
development. Their wills, therefore, are not 
supplied with those motives which would enable 
them to hold their attention to views of truth 
14* 



322 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

such as produce a more chastened, substantial, 
and elevated tone of Christian feeling. For the 
want of enlightened views, the religious senti- 
ment displays itself in superstitious conceits, 
which usually lead to wild and sometimes frantic 
feelings. We need not dwell upon the evils of 
this state of things. They are too obvious, in 
their influence upon the blacks, and oftentimes 
through them upon the nursery of white children, 
to require discussion. That which demands atten- 
tion is this : it is a duty which the master owes 
his slave to pursue that course in the government 
of his domestic empire which shall contribute to 
correct these evils, and to fit his slaves for their 
destiny in the spirit-world, where the distinction 
of master and slave will no longer exist. Aside, 
then, from other and less important objects in that 
Divine economy which introduced the African into 
this country, God has thereby committed to you 
these ignorant, these suffering poor. He requires 
you to care for their souls as well as their bodies. 
The latter of these duties you may fulfil for your 
own interests merely. But each one of them you 
ought fliithfully to perform, both for God's sake 
and for the common interests of yourselves and 
your slaves. '-And ye masters, do the same 
things unto them :" that is, as the context shows, 
serve their interests faithfully, and that for the 



OF SLAVERY. 323 

sake of Christ, as they are reqmred to serve your 
commands faithfully, and that for the sake of 
Christ. But how may you do this ? 

You should provide for them the means of 
public religious instruction. The owner of a large 
plantation of slaves should charge himself with 
the expense of a minister of the gospel for his 
slaves. Smaller plantations should unite to em- 
ploy the services of a minister. The owners of 
still smaller plantations in thinly settled communi- 
ties of whites, should see that the usual supply 
of ministerial service for the neighborhood is suffi- 
cient to meet the demands of their slaves. Those 
who employ a minister, or those who unite with 
others to employ one to devote himself to the 
religious instruction of their slaves, should see 
that he is a man of blameless life, of sound, prac- 
tical Christian experience, simple in his language, 
familiar in his manners, and fervent in spirit. lie 
should devote himself to teach the children the 
oral catechism, to visit the sick, to bury the dead, 
and preach the gospel regularly on the Sabbath. 
On all occasions of pubhc worship on the Sabbath, 
both old and young should be required to be pre- 
sent, and in their best clothes. Masters should 
occasionally attend all these meetings. Our mis- 
sions on plantations are fine examples of the sys- 
tem here recommended. The Sabbath — the 



324 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

Christian Sabbath — is the great civihzer of men. 
The clean skin, the Sunday suit, the companion- 
ship of friends, all unite with the sound instruction 
of the pulpit, and the warm-hearted reception of 
the truth, to raise man in the scale of being, to 
make him a better servant, and a better citizen — 
an heir, together with the master, of the inherit- 
ance of the saints in light. 

Those more densely populated white communi- 
ties which are well supplied with the Christian 
ministry should afford ample accommodations to 
the colored population to hear the w^ord of life, 
and share the blessings of the holy Sabbath. 
Masters should see to this. They have not done 
their duty when they subscribe to build a church 
in the neighborhood, and pay a trifle to the 
preacher. Their slaves should also be jDrovided 
for. If they will not go to heaven themselves, 
their slaves can go there, and many of them de- 
sire to go there. Their masters unjustly with- 
hold the means. In many instances, suitable pro- 
vision is not made. The houses are small. The 
slaves are crowded out. They hear but little ; at 
least, they are not instructed. A still greater 
defect of this system in Virginia is, the slaves are 
but poorly suppHed with pastoral labor out of the 
pulpit. The sick are seldom visited. The dead 
are only buried in crowds. There is great room 



OF SLAVERY. 325 

then, for improvement. Why may not the mas- 
ters of a neighborhood engage the services of their 
minister to have a regular appointment for an 
afternoon on tlie plantation of some one, for the 
benefit of the slaves of the neighborhood, and to 
visit their sick ? I know many masters who are 
always ready to subscribe liberally to their minis- 
ter if he would engage in this service. Why 
should he not do it ? Perhaps some do. I should 
rejoice to see this system more generally adopted, 
and by our circuit preachers especially. They 
would accomplish great good. I doubt if a better 
remedy for the wants of the African population in 
such communities can be found. 

But not only to help supply this deficiency, but 
also on the score of its own intrinsic value, each 
family should contribute their personal attention 
to supply the rehgious wants of their slaves. The 
Sabbath should be a day of rest, of companion- 
ship, and of religious instruction and enjoyment in 
every family. From no part of these should the 
slaves be excluded or overlooked in the domestic 
arrangements. That slaves appear in their clean 
Sunday-clothes, is the first duty. They should 
all know that they are expected to be at church. 
For the invalids and the aged, the means of con- 
veyance should be provided. The old man, the 
old woman who nursed your parents, and who 



326 PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE 

have descended to you as the heir-looms of an 
ancient house ; or, it may be, who began life with 
you, have nursed your children, and helped to 
build up your house and your fortune — shall they 
be forgotten in the feebleness of their age? Dc 
they still stand to service, and help to make their 
bread ; and when the merry crowd hies away " to 
the Sabbath-meeting," shall the weight of theii 
years make them turn to their seat, because they 
shrink from the journey of a few miles on foot? 
This should not be. We should provide for the 
old and the infirm to ride to meeting. I wondei 
some masters do not fear that an ungrateful sod 
will one day feed them in their old age in a private 
room and from a trencher, instead of at the family 
table and around the domestic hearthstone ! To 
the credit of our system, the old family servants 
are generally honored. White and black do reve- 
rence to their age and their position. This is right. 
But why should the master think it beneath 
him to call the young together on a Sabbath after- 
noon, and invite the attendance of all the slaves, 
and instruct them orally in the truths and lessons 
of our holy religion : What God is : what the 
Saviour is : what man is : what is to become of 
us when we die ; and how we may be saved. 
The simple forms of these truths as laid down in 
our Catechism may by any one be made interest- 



OP SLAVERY. 32'( 

ing to children and instructive to all. The child- 
ren should he taught by being made to repeat 
after us and respond all together. Their attention 
will be aroused, and they will readily catch the 
idea of a great many truths that may lead them to 
fear God and desire to do right. Withal, it will 
make them feel that you care for them. They 
will think more of themselves. They will rise in 
the scale of social being. They will be less trouble 
to you. They will be more happy in themselves, 
and ultimately share with you the joys of heaven. 
Much of all that is here enjoined, an}^ gentleman 
may do and ought to do, though he may not be a 
Christian. He wnll himself be profited by the 
exercise it w^ill give his mind on spiritual subjects. 
I should not omit to notice, that in speaking of 
the duty of the mmter^ I use the term generically 
— I embrace the mistress. All the duties enjoined 
require the cordial cooperation of the mistress. 
Much of it, if done at all, must be done by her. 
She oftener has a heart to do it. She can do it, 
and, with a little encouragement, will do it, w^hen 
other persons perhaps cannot or will not. If, 
then, the master will not be the high-priest as 
well as the law^giver of his house, let him, at least, 
devolve a portion of the care for the rehgious in- 
terest of the slaves upon his wife, and especially 
that which relates to the instruction of the young. 



328 PHILOSOPHY OF SLAVERY. 

She, also, can often employ her own children to 
aid in this service. It will both interest and 
instruct them. 

So far as my observation goes, I am satisfied 
that the Southern family in which a proper disci- 
pline is maintained, and domestic religion, in that 
wide sense which embraces both blacks and whites, 
is duly cultivated, for good order, for peace and 
quiet, for general morality and general prosperity, 
in all that concerns the comfort and happiness of 
a family, stands unrivalled in the history of the 
country. 



THE END. 



|jul)litiiti0iis 



M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH 



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ife: 




